Miles Davis

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Drummer Knew Iconic Album Was Pretty Good
Drummer Knew
Iconic Album
Was Pretty Good
obituary
May 25, 2020 5:10 PM CDT

Drummer Knew Iconic Album Was Pretty Good

Jimmy Cobb, 91, was the last of the band on Miles Davis' 'Kind of Blue'

(Newser) - Jimmy Cobb, a percussionist and the last surviving member of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, a groundbreaking jazz album that transformed the genre and sparked several careers, died Sunday. His wife, Eleana Tee Cobb, announced on Facebook that her husband died at his New York City home of lung cancer,...

Rock Photog Jim Marshall Dies at 74
 Rock Photog 
 Jim Marshall 
 Dies at 74 
OBITUARY
Mar 24, 2010 8:15 PM CDT

Rock Photog Jim Marshall Dies at 74

Captured Hendrix, Dylan, Joplin, many more

(Newser) - Jim Marshall, whose iconic photography captured many of the stars of rock and roll’s 1960s heyday, died in his sleep last night at 74, Rolling Stone reports; cause of death is still unknown. Marshall shot everyone from Bob Dylan to Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis to the Beatles, Janis Joplin...

At 50, Kind of Blue Still Totally Awesome

(Newser) - In 1959, Miles Davis was looking to forge a path away from the bebop spearheaded by mentor Charlie Parker, Fred Kaplan writes on Slate. “Parker not only invented bebop, he perfected it,” Kaplan continues, leaving Davis nowhere else to go. So when Davis was introduced to so-called “...

Jazz Pioneer George Russell Dead at 86

His theory influenced Miles Davis, John Coltrane

(Newser) - Jazz innovator George Russell died at 86 yesterday in Boston of Alzheimer’s complications, the Globe reports. Russell developed a jazz theory that played a key role on landmark records like Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. Russell’s theory “gives you a...

1959: The Apex of Jazz
 1959: The Apex of Jazz 
OPINION
Jul 20, 2009 12:36 PM CDT

1959: The Apex of Jazz

(Newser) - 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of jazz’s best year jazz ever, Martin Johnson writes for the Root. 1959 saw canonical discs from genre royalty: “Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, John Coltrane’s Giant Steps, Ornette Coleman’s The Shape of Jazz to Come, Dave Brubeck’s Time Out...

Common Hails Triumph of Actual Style Over Bling

(Newser) - The world of hip-hop style is forsaking gaudy bling for refinement, to the delight of trendsetting rapper-actor Common. “It’s great that is gone,” he tells the Los Angeles Times of the pendant-and-Cristal days. “That really didn't exemplify style. It was just like, ‘I have the...

Kind of Blue Still the Gold Standard at 50

Topselling jazz album helped redefine American music

(Newser) - Fifty years to the day since its debut, Miles Davis’ signature album Kind of Blue remains beautiful and inviting—"like meeting an old friend," Malcolm Jones writes in Newsweek. The record helped jazz earn its title as America’s classical music and remains the bestselling jazz album ever....

50 Top Pop Brainiacs
 50 Top Pop Brainiacs 
May 25, 2008 11:43 AM CDT

50 Top Pop Brainiacs

Lennon, Marley, Berry rock on

(Newser) - "Towering natural abilities" and "exceptional creative powers" infuse the most memorable music of generations, forged by Blender's top 50 pop-music geniuses. The top 10:
  1. Bob Dylan: Each of his brave self-reinventions is "an authentic American original."
  2. John Lennon: "His drive pushed the Beatles from a
...

Jazz Giant Zawinul Dead at 75
Jazz Giant Zawinul Dead at 75
Sep 11, 2007 7:28 PM CDT

Jazz Giant Zawinul Dead at 75

Keyboardist defended 'electric jazz' against purists

(Newser) - Joe Zawinul, the keyboardist who plugged America into "Electric Jazz" in the 1970s, has died at age 75. Best known for playing jazz-rock fusion with Miles Davis and starting up Weather Report with Wayne Shorter, Zawinul defended his electric sound against jazz purists. "There is no difference between...

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