At 50, 'Kind of Blue' still resonates

Here are some exquisite excerpts in The Guardian from Richard Williams' new book on "Kind of Blue," which was released exactly a half-century ago this year. It's still the all-time best-selling jazz record, for reasons Williams explains in part here:

"Its increasing success over 50 years has been the result of a wholly organic process, the consequence of its intrinsic virtues and of its special appeal to a particular layer of the human spirit."

What Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman and others coming along after the heat of the Bebop period were trying to achieve was to go beyond the raw power -- and I would presume the enormous burden -- of the virtuosity of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, et al. It was, as the headline of the story attests, the quest for something akin to "The sound of isolation:"

"But there had never been anything that so carefully and single-mindedly cultivated an atmosphere of reflection and introspection, to such a degree that the mood itself became an art object. Kind of Blue seemed to have taken place in a sealed environment, with all its individual sensibilities pointing inwards. In its ability to distill its complexity of content into a deceptive simplicity, in its concern for a sense of space within the music, for a unity of atmosphere, and for the desire to create a mood of calm contemplation in which the troubled western soul can take its rest, it has become one of the most influential recordings of our time."

The sound of jazz was forever changed, and jazz traditionalists mark this period of time -- by then both Parker and Billie Holiday were dead, as well as Lester Young, all the victims of drug addictions -- as when the art form lost its way. In fact, many of them remain ambivalent about the influence of "Kind of Blue" while admiring his musical achievement. Williams is clear where he stands:

"The principle of darkness, the sensation of natural light, the element of tranquillity, a heart-piercing beauty, the freedom of the imagination: Kind of Blue has all these qualities, and many more that lie far beneath its seductive surface. Whenever it is played, in whatever circumstances, it provides further evidence that its essence remains undisturbed, a rare example of human perfection, never needing to raise its voice to make itself heard but speaking more clearly as the years go by."

(Update, Aug. 29, 2009: The link to the above story appears to have been taken down from The Guardian site; I have not been able to find it anywhere after first thinking it was a broken link. It did not come up on searches or by scouring through that site. But since the quotes were the heart of this post, I merely removed the link. -- wp)