'Kind of Blue' at 50

Photo by Sandy Carson

'Kind of Blue' at 50

Austin Convention Center, Thursday, March 19

Miles Davis had a problem during the Kind of Blue session, according to 90-year-old A&R legend George Avakian, who signed Davis to Columbia Records in 1955: John Coltrane wouldn't stop playing. "'Why do you keep blowing like that?' Miles asked him," recalled Avakian with a chuckle. "And Coltrane says, 'I can't stop.' So Miles says, 'Well, did you ever think of taking the horn out of your mouth?'" The pair famously went on to complete the Miles Davis Sextet's seminal album for Columbia, now being celebrated anew on its 50th anniversary. Avakian's story was just one of the highlights of this discussion, which was also joined by Davis' son Erin Davis and nephew Vincent Wilburn Jr., who reminisced about learning music at "Miles Davis University." "We got criticized every night," the younger Davis recalled, "whether we wanted to or not." When surprise guest Quincy Jones tried to sneak into the back row, panel moderator and noted jazz historian Ashley Kahn did the polite thing and invited him onstage. "Let's look at the marquee," Jones offered, ticking off the lineup: John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb. "It was a serious cast." About that or the importance of the groundbreaking classic, there would be no argument. "We don't have to keep this music alive," added panelist David Fricke of Rolling Stone. "It keeps us alive."