LONDON, UK (Top40 Charts/ Sony
Music Entertainment UK) - 2009 sees the 50th anniversary of Miles' masterpiece Kind of Blue. To celebrate this landmark a limited edition 50th anniversary package is being released.
The package will retail at about �80, and will include 2 tickets to the Tower Festival on the 17th September, one copy of the new release Kind of Blue Legacy Edition with 2 CDs and a DVD and one copy of the The Blue Moment Book by Richard Williams
Kind Of Blue is universally considered to be one of the best albums of all time, of any genre. Fifty years later it is still the best selling jazz album ever and constantly tops the worldwide Jazz charts.
The live show
On 17th September 2009, as part of the Tower Festival, legendary jazz drummer, Jimmy Cobb (the only surviving member from the original recording) leads a contemporary all-star band featuring Wallace Roney (trumpet), Javon Jackson (tenor saxophone), Vincent Herring (alto saxophone), Larry Willis (piano), and Buster Williams (bass.) The group will perform their interpretations of Kind of Blue's five masterpieces: So What, Freddie Freeloader, Blue In Green, All Blues, and Flamenco Sketches plus other classics by Davis, John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley<. Support comes from UK Jazz legend Courtney Pine.
What's on the album
The 2 CD Legacy edition features the original album plus alternate takes, false starts and a 17 minute performance of So What live in Holland. The DVD features a documentary, Celebrating A Masterpiece: Kind of Blue, produced by Nell Mulderry, black-and-white still photography of the Kind of Blue recording sessions, as well as excerpts of radio interviews with the late Bill Evans and 'Cannonball' Adderley. The DVD's other talking heads include Herbie Hancock, Bill Cosby, Jimmy Cobb and Carlos Santana, showing the immense influence and value of Kind of Blue.
What's in the book?
The Blue Moment is unlike any other work written about Miles Davis. Richard Williams takes as his starting point the making of Kind of Blue, Davis's most celebrated album, and shows how movements in art, philosophy and music fed into this meditative, melancholy masterpiece, first released in 1959.
Williams tells the story of the album's creation in miraculously few hours in a converted Manhattan church and elegantly sketches the roles of the other five musicians who played on the recording. This is the foundation for an ambitious exploration of Kind of Blue's influence on the whole course of late-twentieth-century music.
Richard Williams is the Guardian's chief sports writer. His previous jobs include chief sports writer of the Independent, assistant editor of the Times, editor of Time Out and Melody Maker and head of A&R at Island Records.
Kind of Blue Commemorative Anniversary Package only �80
Kind of Blue at 50 - Tower Festival - 17th September RRP �80 (for 2 tickets)
Kind of Blue Legacy Edition 2 CD / DVD set RRP approx �25
The Blue Moment Miles Davis's Kind of Blue and the Remaking of Modern Music - Richard Williams - Out 6 August - RRP &14.99 Richard Williams will be at the event for book signings.
Strictly limited numbers. Subject to booking fee. Tickets for the Tower Festival will be sent in the post. Book and CD must be collected at Kind of Blue at the Tower Festival on 17 September only collection will be at the merchandise stand. Books and CD will not be sent out in advance. Package includes 2 tickets, 1 copy of Kind of Blue Legacy Edition, 1 copy of The Blue Moment by Richard Williams.
To book call 0844 847 2519 or go to Ticketmaster,
www.towerfestival.com, www.sonymusic.com, www.sonycmg.com, www.faber.co.uk
