Emily: There is a certain melancholy in Kind of Blue that's not quite as present in Birth of the Cool, the other Miles Davis album we've listened to for this list and one that I've listened to many times over. It got me thinking about my days listening to Miles Davis in the museum gift shop. I know I've written about that experience several times here, but today it's at the forefront of my mind. The reason we had the Birth of the Cool CD in the gift shop, along with John Coltrane, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and a few other jazz and instrumental staples, was because a coworker burned these CDs specifically for the shop so we could have something new to listen to while we spent hours organizing the toy section and dusting glass sculptures. I learned a few days ago that this coworker passed away last week, unexpectedly and far too soon. I hadn't spoken to him in a few years, since the last time I volunteered for a museum event before I moved away from Philadelphia. But seeing that news spurred several memories - waiting for tour groups outside on spring days, the time he insisted that we walked together to the El after a meeting in an unfamiliar neighborhood, and, of course, the music that he shared with all of us in the gift shop. The creativity and emotion of Miles Davis was a perfect fit to remember him by.
Favorite Tracks: So What; Flamenco Sketches; Freddie Freeloader
Zack: And the nostalgia tour continues! We last
listened to Miles Davis winter break of sophomore year, so probably January
2011. And Birth of the Cool has remained my favorite jazz album this entire
time (2nd place: Kamasi Washington’s The Epic; 3rd place;
John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme). Being really forced to listen to jazz is one
of the elements of this endeavor I’m most happy about. I think I always wanted
to listen to more jazz. But it can be very intimidating. The Wikipedia page for
Kind of Blue talks a lot about music theory and tonality and modality and I
think if I had tried to discover it on my own I would have backed away in a
panic. Now, I know that I don’t care about any of that stuff. I just know that
Kind of Blue was really great to listen to. The songs were longer than Birth of
the Cool, but I think they did a better job of conveying emotions and ideas.
The songs on Kind of Blue carried a lot of weight. And I look forward to
reexperiencing that weightiness every time I need something subtle in the
background while I edit or code.
Favorite Tracks: Blue in Green; Flamenco Sketches; So What
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