MUSIC | ANNIVERSARY 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 release "Kind of Blue" as prime inspirations 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 San Diego Union-Tribune interview. "We've taken and stolen from him shamelessly, not just musically but in terms of his attitude of moving things forward." Such sentiments come as no surprise to trumpet dynamo and San Diego Symphony jazz curator Gilbert Castellanos.
"Experiencing 'Kind of Blue' is like floating on a cloud in the best dream ever, except that it's real," said Castellanos, a veteran local trumpeter and founder of the Young Lions Jazz Conservatory. "You don't have to be a jazz fan, or know anything about jazz, to love 'Kind of Blue.' Anyone can listen to it and really enjoy it.
That is why Miles Davis is heavily responsible for turning a lot of people on to jazz." A lot, indeed. Pink Floyd to Q-Tip Since its release in August 195.