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Is Kind of Blue the Best Jazz Album Ever

Let me begin by qualifying "best", in this case I use the word best to mean the most representative or widely accepted.

Kind of Blue is not my favorite album, but whenever I listen to it I feel that if someone were to ask me what is Jazz I would be compelled to play it, more specifically "So What".

Maybe it is the star studded cast, Miles Davis, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderly. On their own these guys are legends. Together?

So the question can be twisted, are they any other jazz albums that could represent what Jazz so perfectly?
nick_sr
kurt_tank
1,188 posts
 
Wow, Lokie,

And here I thought I was the King of Sarcasm.
(Apparently, I am only the Prince.)

;-)
kg4big
4 posts
 
I think it is the "best" jazz album for non Jazz fans that later become Jazz fans.

Does that make sense?

I thought it was the best till I discovered the HardBop Blue Notes.

If had never heard Kind of Blue ..... I doubt I would have discovered the others.

JMHO

Ken
mapman's avatar
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mapman
15,679 posts
 
Certainly one of the most popular and successful. Does that make it the "best"?
lloydc's avatar
lloydc
549 posts
 
No. Jazz took a wrong turn with bebop.
nick_sr OP
263 posts
 
I'll conceed, "jazz" may be too broad a term. How about best ("best" as qualified in my original post) "Bebop Jazz" album.

I am not claiming that KOB is the best, as in technically or artistically above the rest in its genre. I know that there are many jazz albums of the era that surpass KOB (many of them have been mentioned in the thread above). I don't believe that any one can be considered the best as they all offer something unique.

But I like Kurt-tank's analogy with Dark Side of the Moon,(not sure about Beethoven 5th). Let me steel Tvad's term, these are "gateway" albums into their respective genres.
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