Guardian Music — How the tireless musical innovator came to make, in Bitches Brew, one of the biggest-selling jazz albums of all timeBetween 1945, when he hustled his way on to New York's new bebop scene as Charlie Parker's teenage trumpeter, and the turbulent year o... more info

Guardian Music — In 1964, Miles Davis responded to free jazz by enlisting a group of untried talents who would challenge, rather than flatter, his remarkable trumpet sound. It was a gamble that paid off ...It's hard to think of a more significant influence on the sma... more info

Guardian Music — Forty years ago, Miles Davis rewrote the jazz rulebook with his album Bitches Brew – but he never would have made it without the inspiration of the amazing Betty Mabry, as she now reveals in a rare interviewAs the incendiary year of 1968 dawned, Mi... more info

All About Jazz — It's eerily appropriate, in a way—Jimmy Cobb is the only musician missing from the photos of the famous "Kind of Blue" recording sessions that decorate his bedroom. He's also the last one still living, a fact he's reminded of every day he awake... more info

Guardian Music — (Sony)As with last year's Kind of Blue 50th-birthday extravaganza, this 40th-year equivalent for Bitches Brew is more of a luxury gift than an essential. The electric sound and thundering Latin-rock grooves might have broken with the cool-jazz trad... more info

Guardian Music — There's no greater joy than singing with your family, when it doesn't matter whether you're in tune, or if you don't know the wordsWe were floating in canoes down the Aveyron valley in southern France, the water shining and still, the banks silent. ... more info

All About Jazz — For fans of Miles Davis's legendary 1959 record, and for jazz fans in general, Ashley Kahn's Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece is a compelling read. It's an insider's look at people involved in the recording of this most popular... more info

Guardian Music — Perhaps the most influential saxophonist all of time, Coltrane produced an intensely soulful sound that reached way beyond the jazz cognoscentiMiles Davis was a good authority on the saxophonist John Coltrane, who played in one of the trumpeter's ban... more info

All About Jazz — This groundbreaking 1959 album is as close to perfection as jazz gets without sacrificing its spontaneity I had hoped that a blog on the popular and funky Hammond organist Jimmy Smith might attract more than the average number of commentators, but I... more info

Guardian Music — This groundbreaking 1959 album is as close to perfection as jazz gets without sacrificing its spontaneityI had hoped that a blog on the popular and funky Hammond organist Jimmy Smith might attract more than the average number of commentators, but I w... more info