Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

It is hard to imagine jazz without Miles Davis and it is hard to imagine owning just one Miles Davis record. As Miles went, so went jazz. He started out as a devote of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie paying the emerging hard jazz sound called bebop. For several years he played as part of Bird's band before becoming a front man. During his early days he invented and popularized cool jazz, releasing his first record, the must own Birth of Cool. A recording contract with Columbia records spawned the must haves 'Round About Midnight and Miles Ahead. Following this, Davis began to experiment with modal playing, basing his improvisations on scales rather than chord changes. This led to his biggest recording, Kind of Blue, in 1959, a record that became a landmark in modern jazz and the most popular of Davis' career, selling over two million copies, unheard of for a jazz record. The last on the must have list is Bitches Brew, with this record Davis turned more overtly to a jazz-rock style. Though not conventional rock music, Davis' electrified sound attracted a non-jazz audience while putting off traditional jazz fans. Released in March 1970, it reached the pop Top 40 and became Davis' first certified gold record. Not bad for a heroin addict and the one of the angriest men to ever live.