March 29, 2008

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The first time I ever laid eyes on Miles Davis was when my dad left the album (and it was an album) Kind of Blue out on the bar while he was listening to it.  To be honest, the picture on the cover spooked me.  For a young girl with a very vivid imagination, the blue lighting, the shiny shirt, and the fact that I had never actually seen a man playing a trumpet before made me think that Miles was an alien wielding some sort of crazy weapon. Very frightening, indeed.

Thankfully, I stayed in the room long enough to learn that even if this shiny shirted being was a scary space alien, I could forgive him because he was also a mighty fine trumpeter.  The music was unlike anything I could recall hearing before: smooth and dreamy, with a slightly hypnotic drum beat.  I was hooked then and there. It remains my favorite of Miles and is most definitely on the “desert island” list.

***As it turns out, this is a faulty memory.  I swore that this was the album cover I saw as a kid.  My dad confirmed that it isn’t.  Yikes! What happened?  Mysteries abound…