Kind Of Blue Celebrates 50 Years at The Tower Festival | 2009

KIND OF BLUE AT 50
JIMMY COBB’S SO WHAT BAND
FEATURING
WALLACE RONEY, VINCENT HERRING, JAVON JACKSON, LARRY WILLIS AND BUSTER WILLIAMS

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

“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. To celebrate the anniversary the festival has called on
the services of Jimmy Cobb’s So What Band (the only surviving member
from the original recording).

Kind Of Blue was released in
August 1959, stunning the jazz world by practically creating a new
language of music. Its influence goes far beyond jazz. The album 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 and remains a
constant at the top of worldwide Jazz charts.

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.

Drummer
Jimmy Cobb got a call from Miles Davis 50 years ago to take part in
what would prove to be a jazz milestone. In two afternoon sessions in
1959, Davis, Cobb and an all- star team of saxophonists John Coltrane
and Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, bassist Paul Chambers and pianists
Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly produced a masterpiece, Kind of Blue.

The
group’s second session, also on 30th Street, took place seven weeks
later, and on August 17 of that year the album emerged. More than five
million copies later, Kind of Blue stands not only as a landmark of
accomplishment, but also of accessibility.

A half century after its
release in August 1959, it is regarded by critics as perhaps the finest
jazz record of the modern era and was certified quadruple platinum in
2008 Cobb said “When people say this record is that popular for that
long, I start thinking about Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong and all
the great recordings they made I would have never thought that record
would outsell theirs. Man, I don’t think Miles even thought that it
would have that longevity.”

Cobb, the only surviving member of
the storied recording sessions, will pay tribute to the 50th
anniversary of “Kind Of Blue”. Cobb said “I’m proud to be here, man.
I’m proud to be 80 years old and still here. I’m sorry that all my
friends are gone, you know, but I’ve got them in my heart and this
event will be a true homage to the original line up. They are still
here in spirit and the album lives on.”

Jimmy Cobb, who turns
has just turned 80 was the recipient of the 2009 NEA Jazz Masters Award
in a ceremony at Jazz @ 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

LINE UP:
Jimmy Cobb – Drums
Wallace Roney – Trumpet
Javon Jackson – Tenor Saxophone
Vincent Herring – Alto Saxophone
Larry Willis – Piano
Buster Williams – Bass

The
TOWER FESTIVAL was masterminded by impresario Harvey Goldsmith CBE, one
of the most respected classical music promoters in the world and the
man who invented stadium opera. Goldsmith first delighted the British
public in the eighties by promoting and staging such classical music
concerts with Luciano Pavarotti at Hyde Park and Wembley Stadium along
with the groundbreaking Three Tenor concerts with Pavarotti, Jose
Carreras and Placido Domingo.
He was also responsible for bringing
opera to the masses with Aida at Earls Court and then touring
productions of Carmen and Tosca. A larger than life character, Harvey
is also a tireless champion and promoter of charitable events and
causes, in 1982 he promoted LIVE AID along with Bob Geldof raising £140
million and has since raised hundreds of millions for the Princes
Trust, Teenage Cancer Trust, Net Aid and various other charities.
Commenting
on the forthcoming TOWER FESTIVAL Harvey Goldsmith added; “I am
absolutely thrilled and delighted to be working with Historic Royal
Palaces and the Tower of London to bring what is arguably the finest
classical music and arts festival to be staged in one of London’s most
historic and iconic buildings.”

Tickets for the TOWER FESTIVAL 2009 are on sale now;
Door times as follows:
Kind of Blue at 50 – Doors 6pm / Show 7.30pm