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Review by becomingalive May 12, 2007 (11 of 11 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (S/MC): / |
I just got the multi-channel version and all I can say is - if your review is based on the stereo version then you need to listen to this!
"Kind of Blue" is not just a classic album, it's possibly THE classic jazz LP. I've got 2000 LP's, mostly jazz, and I'm just starting to get seriously into multichannel. Listen closely to the first track - the bass is a revelation, even to someone like me who already has two different LP versions (original and Japanese reissue) and the CD. The person who said the bass, piano, and drums aren't properly balanced compared to the brass needs to get some Q-Tips - or assistance to better set-up his electronics.
There is an intriguing difference between the two takes of "Flamenco Sketches" in terms of sonics. The original liner notes by Bill Evans are augmented by some wonderfully insightful comments by Robert Palmer, now essential for me. Small print is the only drawback to these notes.
If you don't have an SACD player yet, get one now and make "Kind of Blue" one of your initial disc purchases - you won't regret it regardless of your previous contact with jazz. I'm only buying DSD discs (and vinyl) after hearing this.
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Review by nickc March 1, 2005 (7 of 9 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
Now I can officially say that I have wasted the first 35 years of my life having never listened to this disc until a week ago - but as they say better late than never! This music is as beautiful and profound as a Beethoven string quartet slow movement or a Mahler adagio (though on a slightly smaller scale!)
Listening to saxophones used to remind me of elevators or cheesy bars: how wrong could I have been. When I used to think of trumpets I would think of Tchaikovsky in full flight - i had never imagined a sound like Miles Davis produces. The tracks are predominantly slow and moody, the disc finishing off with two alternate takes of "Flamenco Sketches" that I wished had gone for another ten minutes!
Being a classically trained pianist I am amazed that this whole disc is essentially improvised (within certain parameters).
The sound is excellent for 1959 -though the brass are much clearer than the piano.
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Review by krisjan January 27, 2006 (6 of 8 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (S): |
| After reading the recent S-phile article on this recording, I took it off the shelf to listen again after not hearing it for a couple of years. First off, there is no such thing as a natural sound stage for this recording since the musicians were recorded close up and then panned in the original three-channel mix to create a desired listening experience. So please don't tell me what great sound stage this recording has. The music is interesting and extremely well performed. Of all the instruments, the brass have a beautifully realistic timbre. Davis' trumpet, and Adderly's and Coltrane's saxophones sound terrific. When I hear this kind of result from sessions in 1959(!) I lament what has happened to recording technology in the intervening 4+ decades. Piano, bass and drums don't have the same sonic impact (but maybe that's the way the producer desired it to sound). Get this to hear what real brass sounds like!
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