From Lana Del Rey, John Legend and Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar to the members of Radiohead and guitar legends Carlos Santana, Duane Allman and Jerry Garcia, the number of musicians who have cited Miles Davis and his landmark 1959 album, Kind of Blue , as a prime inspiration grows larger by the year. “It’s a pioneering album that was a turning point in jazz and it’s also a great bridge to classical and world music,” said pianist and Pulitzer Prize-winning opera composer Anthony Davis. “I’m not a hardcore jazz fan, but I love Kind of Blue ,” said Melissa Etheridge.
“Discussing Miles makes you feel like a dime-store novelist talking about Shakespeare,” Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood said in a 2001 interview. “We’ve taken and stolen from him shamelessly, not just musically, but in terms of his attitude of moving things forward.” Since its release on August 15, 1959, Kind of Blue has become the bestselling jazz album of all time – and the most widely acclaimed – embraced equally by jazz and non-jazz artists alike.
Both Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen and A Tribe Called Quest co-founder Q-Tip have called the album “the bible” for music. Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright cited Kind of Blue as a prime influence on the structure and tone of parts of the group’s classic 1973 album, Dark Side of the Moon . Former Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia was such a big fan that he and mandolin player David Grisman recorded three .