Now in paperback and illustrated with vintage photos, "Kind of Blue" is "a small treasure" ("The New Yorker") and the bestselling account of the creation of a jazz classic. 50 photos.

Regarded by experts as "the best jazz recording of all time," the 1959 release Kind of Blue is one of the most influential albums in the history of jazz. The new hardcover deluxe edition of this exceptional book features transcriptions of all the improvised solos as well as sketch scores for all the songs from this landmark release; this includes Miles' trumpet parts, the brilliant sax work of John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly, a full transcription of Wynton Kelly's piano solo on "Freddie Freeloader," and Paul Chambers' and Jimmy Cobb's rhythm section parts to use as guides for the feel of each composition. Songs include: So What * Freddie Freeloader * Blue in Green * All Blues * and Flamenco Sketches, including an alternate take. Also includes fabulous photos and an essay written specifically for this edition by composer Bill Kirchner, who won a Grammy for his notes on Sony's Miles Davis/Gil Evans boxed set, and edited The Miles Davis Reader for Smithsonian Institution Press. "For musicians in the know, this book can only enhance one's ardor for the album Quincy Jones calls his 'orange juice' and Donald Fagen hails as 'The Bible.'" -Ashley Kahn, author of Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece "Put on the recording, take out the score, and you'll learn a lot and hear things you hadn't noticed before." -Lewis Porter, Director of the MA in Jazz History and Research, Rutgers University at Newark

From the moment it was recorded more than 40 years ago, Miles Davis's Kind of Blue was hailed as a jazz classic. To this day it remains the bestselling jazz album of all time, embraced by fans of all musical genres. The album represented a true watershed moment in jazz history, and helped to usher in the first great jazz revolution since bebop. The Making of Kind of Blue is an exhaustively researched examination of how this masterpiece was born. Recorded with pianist Bill Evans, tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, composer/theorist George Russell and Miles himself, the album represented a fortuitous conflation of some of the real giants of the jazz world, at a time when they were at the top of their musical game. The end result was a recording that would forever change the face of American music. Through extensive interviews and access to rare recordings Nisenson pieced together the whole story of this miraculous session, laying bare the genius of Miles Davis, other musicians, and the heart of jazz itself.

Ken Clarke needs no introduction. One of the genuine 'Big Beasts' of the political scene, during his forty-six years as the Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire he has been at the very heart of government under three prime ministers. He is a political obsessive with a personal hinterland, as well known as a Tory Wet with Europhile views as for his love of cricket, Nottingham Forest Football Club and jazz. In Kind of Blue, Clarke charts his remarkable progress from working-class scholarship boy in Nottinghamshire to high political office and the upper echelons of both his party and of government. But Clarke is not a straightforward Conservative politician. His position on the left of the party often led Margaret Thatcher to question his true blue credentials and his passionate commitment to the European project has led many fellow Conservatives to regard him with suspicion – and cost him the leadership on no less than three occasions. Clarke has had a ringside seat in British politics for four decades and his trenchant observations and candid account of life both in and out of government will enthral readers of all political persuasions. Vivid, witty and forthright, and taking its title not only from his politics but from his beloved Miles Davis, Kind of Blue is political memoir at its very best.

'It is the most singular of sounds, yet among the most ubiquitous. It is the sound of isolation that has sold itself to millions.' Miles Davis's Kind of Blue is the best selling piece of music in the history of jazz, and for many listeners among the most haunting in all of twentieth-century music. It is also, notoriously, the only jazz album many people own. Recorded in 1959 (in nine miraculous hours), there has been nothing like it since. Its atmosphere - slow, dark, meditative, luminous - became all-pervasive for a generation, and has remained the epitome of melancholy coolness ever since. Richard Williams has written a history of the album which for once does not rip it out of its wider cultural context. He evokes the essence of the music - identifying the qualities that make it so uniquely appealing - while making effortless connections to painting, literature, philosophy and poetry. This makes for an elegant, graceful and beautifully-written narrative.

The story of the final recordings of one of the greatest jazz musicians of the twentieth century

A moving picture book debut about depression, sensory awareness, and the power of listening, from psychologist and author of Teaching Kids to be Kind. Coen is having a sniffling, sighing, sobbing kind of day. His family thinks they know how to cheer him up. His dad wants to go outside and play, Mom tells her funniest joke, and his little sister shares her favorite teddy. Nothing helps. But one by one, they get quiet and begin to listen. After some time, space, and reassurance, Coen is able to show them what he needs. With poignant text and stunning illustrations, A Blue Kind of Day explores how depression might feel in the body and shows us how to support the people we love with patience, care, and empathy.