One could fill a book -- and many books have, in fact, been filled -- discussing the myriad twists and turns of Miles Davis's endlessly questing career. 

If you've gotta start somewhere, however, 1959's Kind Of Blue is a pretty good entry point into a catalogue that comprises more than 60 of his own studio albums alone. The irascible trumpeter is moving away from his more traditional beginnings and "hard bop" here and moving into "modal" jazz with a gifted ensemble of improvisers that includes John Coltrane on tenor sax, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley on alto sax and Bill Evans on piano. In layman's terms, then: Miles is starting to get freaky, but not as freaky as he would get on wilder and wilder later albums that, in some cases, one can be almost certain he didn't remember making. Kind Of Blue is a toweringly influential record, in any case, and one that casts a loooooong shadow well beyond merely the world of jazz. It's also Davis's best-selling album -- Bitches Brew is the other one -- so it's definitely not impenetrable. Dip a toe in here and you might just find you like it.

TRACKLISTING:

1. So What
2. Freddie Freeloader
3. Blue In Green
4. All Blues
5. Flamenco Sketches