My Rating: 3.83 out of 5
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: X
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums: X
The Mojo Collection: X
Chart Peak (UK/US): --/--
Favourite Tracks: Old Folks, Drad Dog
Least-Favourite Tracks: Teo
This album has scored pretty well in comparison to the others which may suggest some kind of pro-jazz bias on my part, though that really isn't the case. It's really more to do with the nature of a top 1000 list largely comprised of rock & pop; as Colin Larkin explains in the book's introduction "most jazz votes are from rock fans who like a bit of jazz". What that means is that the few jazz albums that make the list actually tend to be pretty good ones. And as it's all ranked according to public votes & jazz has a minority appeal, those good jazz albums are always going to be found in the lower levels of the chart.
As with every album so far, this was the first time I had listened to this LP. Like Davis' much-heralded (or should I say much-trumpeted? Errr no, maybe not) Kind Of Blue, this record has distinct crossover appeal; there's no difficult rhythms or dissonant solos, it's just a laidback & melodic jazz album that flows well from start to finish. As you'd expect, Davis is in fine form throughout, though I did feel that his muted trumpet was a little too high in the mix sometimes & could sound a little piercing. Pianist Wynton Kelly was the standout musican for me & I really wanted to hear a lot more of him than I got. I also felt that both Davis & John Coltrane missed the mark on Teo - neither soloist really seemed to complement what the rest of the band were playing & so the whole thing got a bit bogged down (which is a shame as the track had a lot of potential to really go somewhere special). Of course 'proper' jazz fans would shoot me down in flames for suggesting such a thing but luckily nobody but me is reading this so I can say anything I like. In short, if you like Kind Of Blue (and you're not a jazz snob) you'll like this album.
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