“For many, (Miles Davis’) crowning achievement was the album Kind of Blue, the best selling album in jazz history,” (JazzWise). In 1999 it topped The Independent’s ’50 Best Recordings of the 20th Century’ list, in 2006 it topped the Jazzwise ‘100 Albums that Shook the World’ listing, while more recently The Guardian’s ‘1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die’ gave Kind of Blue a half-page box-out, an honour accorded to just 20 or so albums on the whole list. It even featured at No. 66 on the pop station VH1’s ‘100 Greatest Albums of Rock ’n’ Roll.’
“No other recording in jazz has come remotely near acquiring the kind of cachet Kind of Blue has accumulated over the decades. It’s an album that has probably been responsible for more Damascene conversions of non-believers into the jazz faith than any other, it has been the base-station from where countless fans have begun their journey into jazz and it’s an album that crops-up in the record collections of classical, rock, pop and country & western devotees who would not otherwise give jazz house room.”
After an intro, Kind of Blue‘s “So What” (1959) starts in earnest at 0:34. Even though the melody repeats throughout, the half-step upward modulation on the third pass (1:02 – 1:17) lends the track a classic AABA form. At 1:17, the tune reverts to its original key.
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