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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SEPTEMBER 28, 2004 MILES DAVIS 1955 SIGNING TO COLUMBIA - 50th ANNIVERSARY YEAR CELEBRATION BEGINS KIND OF BLUE LANDMARK JAZZ RECORDING OF 1959 INAUGURATES NEW DUALDISC First side contains original album plus only existing alternate take ("Flamenco Sketches"); DVD side contains 25-minute mini-documentary, Made In Heaven Along with new 7-CD box set, SEVEN STEPS: THE COMPLETE COLUMBIA RECORDINGS OF MILES DAVIS 1963-1964 - anniversary year releases begin New configuration of worldwide 10 million-selling fundamental jazz album to arrive in stores on November 2nd on Columbia/Legacy "...The influence of KIND OF BLUE has been so widespread and long-lasting, it's doubtful that anyone has yet grasped its ultimate dimensions. We know KIND OF BLUE is a great and eminently listenable jazz album... But there is more to it than that." - Robert Palmer As the 50th anniversary approaches in 2005 of Miles Davis' signing to Columbia Records in 1955, jazz history once again turns to KIND OF BLUE, his masterpiece and one of the iconic landmarks in jazz development in the 20th century, starring Miles "first great quintet" - with John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Julian 'Cannonball' Adderley on alto saxophone, Bill Evans on piano (with Wynton Kelly on one track), bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb. The album that has been a cornerstone of the label's catalog since its release in 1959 has now been chosen as one of the inaugural releases for recently unveiled DualDisc. The KIND OF BLUE DualDisc will arrive in stores on November 2nd on Columbia/Legacy Jazz, a division of Sony BMG Music Entertainment. This follows the August 31st release of Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Miles Davis 1963-1964. The deluxe seven-CD box set tracks the evolution of Miles' classic "second great quintet" - with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams - over the course of the six albums contained in the box (several with previously unissued performances, several unavailable in Miles U.S. Columbia catalog until now), namely Seven Steps To Heaven, Miles Davis In Europe, My Funny Valentine, Four & More, Miles In Tokyo, and Miles In Berlin. Together, the releases of Seven Steps and the KIND OF BLUE DualDisc set the stage for next year's celebration of the 50th anniversary Miles' signing to Columbia Records. The actual signing was precipitated by his impromptu performance at the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival, in a brief all-star intermission set led by Thelonious Monk, highlighted by a muted trumpet solo on Monk's "'Round Midnight" that stopped the show. Still signed to Prestige Records, an unusual arrangement was made whereby Columbia could start recording Miles immediately (though no music would be issued by the label until early 1957). With the first side of every DualDisc containing a full audio album, and the DVD side providing the same album in enhanced sound (such as 5.1 Surround Sound), along with such multimedia features as music videos, documentary footage, photo galleries, web links, and so on, DualDisc was created to bring the fan even closer to the creative artistic process. DualDisc will add an exciting new dimension to the consumer's musical experience. In the case of KIND OF BLUE, the first side will contain the audio version of the album. The five tracks - "So What," "Freddie Freeloader," "Blue In Green," "All Blues," and "Flamenco Sketches" - are followed by a second take of "Flamenco Sketches," the only existing alternate take from the original sessions (a track first unveiled on the 5-LP/4-CD box set of 1988, Miles Davis: The Columbia Years 1955-1985 (C4K 45000). The DVD side will contain the 6 tracks in 5.1 Surround Sound. The DVD side will also contain a 25-minute mini-documentary entitled "Made In Heaven." The feature utilizes black-and-white film and stills of the recording sessions and the voices of Miles (at the sessions) and Bill Evans (in a 1979 radio interview). There are also interviews with musicians ranging from jazz luminaries Jimmy Cobb, Shirley Horn, Herbie Hancock (who supplies a brief demonstration at the piano of "So What," the album's centerpiece), Horace Silver, Jackie McLean, Dave Liebman, Eddie Henderson and John Scofield, to jazz and classical composer/performer David Amram, funk-rocker Me'Shell NdegeOcello, and hip-hop's Q-Tip. There are also insightful words and warm reminiscences from veteran jazz critic Ira Gitler, humorist and jazz ambassador Bill Cosby, and Ed Bradley of CBS-TV's "60 Minutes." The film takes its title from the words of Jimmy Cobb, sole survivor of the group that made the epochal album: "Kind Of Blue felt like it was made in heaven..." The documentary was produced by Phil Roc and Judd Frankel; it was directed and produced by Chris Lenz and Ashley Kahn (who is the author of Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece, Da Capo Press, 2001). KIND OF BLUE, long thought to be one of the most brilliantly conceived and perfectly executed performances in the entire history of jazz, was created at a time when 'modal' jazz had captured the imagination of Miles Davis. This break from the conventions of chordal complexity towards solo and group improvisation in pure melody was embraced by Miles on the five tunes that jazzlore says he composed within hours of the actual sessions in 1959. These took place on March 2nd ("Freddie Freeloader," which was Kelly's only appearance, "So What," and "Blue In Green") and April 22nd ("Flamenco Sketches," "All Blues"). The LP was issued in August (CL 1355/CS 8163). Critically hailed from virtually the moment it was released, KIND OF BLUE was an enigma for decades. This stemmed from the old Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York, and a 3-track tape machine that was running slightly fast during the recording sessions. As a result, the first three tunes, comprising side one of the LP, always sounded sharp in pitch - a condition that always perplexed musicians who tried to "play along" with the tracks. Nevertheless, the album steadily gained in stature and influence as time went by, selling 10-15,000 copies per year over the next quarter century. When the first generation of compact discs began to be manufactured in 1984, KIND OF BLUE was among the first CDs in the catalog (CK 8163). When the long-running Jazz Masterpieces Series was launched in 1987, KIND OF BLUE was one of the first 12 titles to be issued (CK 40579). Sales continued strongly and the album was finally certified gold by the RIAA in 1993 for U.S. sales in excess of a half-million units - two years after Miles' death and 34 years after the original LP release. However, the same pitch problem that affected the LP was also apparent on the early CDs. In 1995, this problem was finally fixed when a new gold CD of KIND OF BLUE was struck in the first wave of Legacy's Mastersound series (CK 64403). But there was another technical problem of the mix, and the thin reedy overall sound that plagued the various CDs. In 1997, engineers at Sony Music Studios were able to locate a vintage old Presto all-tube 3-track machine to use for the mix, similar to the one used at the original 1959 sessions. The rich, full timbre of the instruments was brought back to life, rendering the previous CD configurations obsolete. The new 1997 edition of KIND OF BLUE also utilized 20-bit SBM (Super Bit Mapping) technology for superb digital sound. The liner notes written by Bill Evans for the original LP were included, along with a newly commissioned essay written by the late music journalist and producer Robert Palmer. This 1997 Columbia/Legacy Jazz Series CD (CK 64935) also added the alternate take of "Flamenco Sketches," expanding the length to more than 55 minutes and becoming the definitive CD standard to date. KIND OF BLUE, which took more than three decades to be certified gold in 1993, hit RIAA platinum four years later in 1997, and passed double-platinum in '99. In that same two-year period, it sold more than 1.1 million copies internationally. In January 2002, KIND OF BLUE earned triple-platinum certification. As one of Sony BMG's inaugural DualDisc releases, KIND OF BLUE continues its reign as an album that finds renewed audiences in every generation of listeners. Together with Seven Steps, a portrait of Miles' first two classic quintet lineups is presented that counterpoints the upcoming 50th anniversary year of his signing to Columbia Records. The music, to reiterate Jimmy Cobb's statement, indeed, "felt like it was made in heaven." KIND OF BLUE by MILES DAVIS (CN 90887) First Side - Audio Selections: 1. So What - 2. Freddie Freeloader - 3. Blue In Green - 4. All Blues - 5. Flamenco Sketches - 6. Flamenco Sketches (alternate take) - DVD Side - Audio Selections: (in 5.1 Surround Sound) - 1. So What - 2. Freddie Freeloader - 3. Blue In Green - 4. All Blues - 5. Flamenco Sketches - 6. Flamenco Sketches (alternate take) - Video: "Made In Heaven" (25-minute mini-documentary). For further information on MILES DAVIS contact: Don Lucoff at DL Media, 610.667.0501 - dondlmedia@covad.net , Tom Cording at Legacy Media Relations, 212.833.4448, or Randy Haecker at Legacy Media Relations, 212.833.4101 Email: LegacyMediaRelations@sonymusic.com ADDRESS TEARSHEETS TO: Tom Cording or Randy Haecker SONY LEGACY 550 Madison Avenue, 17th floor New York, NY 10022-3211 miles-davis.com |