3 Shades of Blue by James Kaplan
This is a biography of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and the making of the incomparable recording, “Kind of Blue”, and what happened ot them after. As such it is the story of jazz in the 1940s, 50s, through the 80s.
There is a lot to tell, because these artists lives intersected with so many other artists, and with culture and politics.
Mush of this story is hard to read because playing and creating jazz was a hard life. If hardship fosters great art, we should be unsurprised at the great music that emerged from Black America in the twentieth century.
Kaplan has an advantage over contemporaneous commentators and fans of the time, in that he has a ton of information about the historical context to fill out the picture; a picture of American racism, sexual behavior, and drug use. So much of the life of a jazz player in those years was taboo, it was impossible for most people to really know about and understand what was happening. Of course, we have our own perspectives now on sex and drugs and hitting women, not to mention racism and sexism.
In principle, this is a story of our culture and the high artistic ambitions of these musicians. But as often happens, what seemed at the time to be urgent questions, conflicts, and artistic goals; are opaque to us. Worse, with the perspective of time, some things that seemed important look like trivial rabbit holes—especially when drugs were in the driver’s seat.
For example, I’m not sure what the titular “Empire of Cool” was supposed to be, but its so “lost” now its just words.
For that matter, the status of the focal work of the book, Kind of Blue, is itself ambiguous. KoB is a great recording, which is widely admired and has sold zillions of records. It influenced untold numbers of musicians, and probably continues to do so.
But, is it “jazz”? What does that question even mean, anyway? (For the record, I myself do not know, nor do I even care about, the answer to that question.)
This history begins in suffering and winds up in irony. Whatever popularity “jazz” had as America’s musical art form, it was blown away in 1963 by the supernova that was “Rock and Roll”. The British invasion was an amplified echo of what kids heard coming out of American bases, which included a lot of jazz. Ka-boom.
Whatever else jazz accomplished, it booted up a new musical culture, like it or not, and thereby ended its own cultural dominance. Welcome to the 60s, folks!
I don’t generally like to read about music or the lives of musician—music is to be experienced, not talked about.
But, of course, there is always an exception to prove the rule.
I actually liked this book, even though it is long and detailed and is trying to talk about jazz, which is an extremely non-verbal topic. Kaplan’s long fan letter to Kind of Blue and the people who made it is readable and worth reading.
For one thing, he is really on the side of his subjects; Miles, John, Bill and their circle. Which isn’t easy, because they had very messy lives.
I should say that, if I don’t necessarily enjoy reading about music, I really hate reading about using drugs. But this story can’t be told without the drugs.
For another thing, Kaplan really likes jazz and the music these guys made. This is evident on every page and gives the book a narrative theme.
I don’t know if these musicians actually were thinking and striving in the way that Kaplan portrays them, but Kaplan’s version makes their chaotic lives seem deeply meaningful and their achievements truly important.
- James Kaplan, 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool, New York, Penguin, 2024.
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