Kind of Blue at 50 Featuring Jimmy Cobb's So What Band June 12, 2009

Jimmy Cobb - Drums
Wallace Roney - Trumpet
Javon Jackson - Tenor Saxophone
Vincent Herring - Alto Saxophone
Larry Willis - Piano
Buster Williams - Bass

KIND OF BLUE AT 50
featuring
Jimmy Cobb's So What Band

“It’s a cornerstone record not only for jazz. It’s a cornerstone record for music.” - Herbie Hancock

“That’ll always be my music, man. I play Kind of Blue every day—it’s my orange juice. It still sounds like it was made yesterday.” - Quincy Jones

“It is one of the single, greatest achievements in recorded music.”- Ed Bradley

2009 marks the 50th Anniversary of the original release date of Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue. The album was released in August 1959, stunning the jazz world by practically creating a new language of music. Its influence goes far beyond jazz. Kind of Blue is universally considered to be one of the best albums of all time, of any genre. Fifty years later, Kind of Blue—the epitome of spontaneous invention—is still the best selling jazz album ever.

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, Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, and original compositions inspired by this era.

Jimmy Cobb, who turns 80 on Inauguration Day (January 20), was the recipient of the 2009 NEA Jazz Masters Award in a ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall in October 2008. He is the elder statesman of all of the incredible Miles Davis bands, performing with the master from 1957 until 1963 on the seminal recordings Sketches of Spain, Someday My Prince Will Come, Live at Carnegie Hall, Live at the Blackhawk, Porgy and Bess, and many other watershed Miles Davis recordings in addition to Kind of Blue. Cobb has also performed with Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, Pearl Bailey, Dizzy Gillespie, Wes Montgomery, Sarah Vaughn, Sonny Stitt, and Nancy Wilson among countless others.

Official Website: http://www.yoshis.com