“It’s the accumulation of everything that ... modern jazz is about."
- Quincy Jones
This is a fan site dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Miles Davis album, Kind of Blue. Cited by music writers as one of the most important and best selling jazz albums ever, it was released August 17th, 1959 on Columbia Records. The musicians to play on this seminal piece of jazz history were giants in their prime including Miles Davis on trumpet, tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, alto saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, pianists Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb. Recorded in two sessions in the Spring of 1959, this album has gone platinum four times already and averages 5,000 purchases a week.
About the website's creator
Currently the host of The Backline Show, Josh Shepherd is a music journalist based in Austin, Texas. Having grown up in Austin, music has been in his blood. With a degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin, Josh Shepherd has spent the last nine years in the television media world as an award winning reporter, anchor, producer and host. Until recently, Josh Shepherd was the Music Director for ME Television, a 24 hour cable music network. Through his work at ME Television, he helped raise the credibility of the network and furthered the network’s mission of bringing indie artists to the world. Now, Josh Shepherd works as a music and media consultant along with hosting his own podcast, The Backline Show.
If you are interested in more about Kind of Blue, please check out Ashley Kahn's book, Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece.
Contact Info
For more info, you can email Josh Shepherd at thebacklineshow@gmail.com
Last updated: October 14th, 2009
All photographs: CREDIT: Don Hunstein © Sony BMG Entertainment