3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool

★★★★★

In 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool, James Kaplan has written an electrifying account of three jazz legends and how their stories brought them together for the briefest of moments to create the game-changing and best-selling jazz album of all time, Kind of Blue, and what happened after—to each of them, and, in many ways, to jazz itself.

As history, it’s illuminating and fascinating. As a story, it is, by turns, stirring and heartbreaking. As music reference, it’s indispensable: practically every page demands a song or album be put on the Hi-Fi. Just as Kind of Blue is the perfect entry point into jazz music, 3 Shades of Blue is the ideal entry point into jazz’s story—each its own mighty branch of the jazz family tree, each thrillingly setting the stage for exploration and discovery in all directions.

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