Its impact on music, including jazz, rock, and classical genres, has led writers to also deem it one of the most influential albums ever made.

In 2019, Kind of Blue was certified 5× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of at least five million copies in the United States.

[3] In 1953, the composer and theorist George Russell published his Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization,[4] which offered an alternative to improvisation based on chords.

[5] Influenced by Russell's ideas, Davis implemented his first modal composition with the title track of his studio album Milestones (1958).

As described in the original liner notes by pianist Bill Evans, Davis had only given the band sketches of scales and melody lines on which to improvise.

Perhaps to assuage the pianist's feelings, Davis had Kelly play instead of Evans on the album's most blues-oriented number, "Freddie Freeloader.

"[9] The live album Miles Davis at Newport 1958 documents the sextet during Evans's tenure; however, it is in a hard bop style, rather than the modal approach of Kind of Blue.

[10] The more ruminative side of Evans's playing while he was a member of the band can best be heard on his lengthy solo on "My Funny Valentine" from Jazz at the Plaza Vol.

"In the case of Kind of Blue there were two producers: Teo Macero and Irving Townsend", said jazz historian Eric Nisenson.

[14] However, it is Townsend's voice heard on the session tapes, who became Davis's producer after the departures of George Avakian and Cal Lampley.

Kind of Blue is based entirely on modality, diverging from Davis's earlier hard bop style of jazz with its complex chord progression and improvisation.

[6] The entire album was a series of modal sketches, with each performer given a set of scales that encompassed the parameters of their improvisation and style.

Davis himself had previously used the same method on his 1958 Milestones album, the '58 Sessions, and Porgy and Bess (1958), on which he used modal influences for collaborator Gil Evans's third stream compositions.

[3]Bill Evans wrote in the LP liner notes, "Miles conceived these settings only hours before the recording dates.

[8] The liner notes list Davis as author of all compositions, but many scholars and fans believe that Bill Evans wrote part or the whole of "Blue in Green" and "Flamenco Sketches".

It's the pinnacle of modal jazz — tonality and solos build from the overall key, not chord changes, giving the music a subtly shifting quality.

Evans formed his influential jazz trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian; "Cannonball" Adderley fronted popular bands with his brother Nat; Kelly, Chambers and Cobb continued as a touring unit, recording under Kelly's name as well as in support of Coltrane and Wes Montgomery, among others; and Coltrane went on to become one of the most revered and innovative of all jazz musicians.

Even more than Davis, Coltrane took the modal approach and ran with it during his career as a leader in the 1960s, leavening his music with Coleman's ideas as the decade progressed.

[53] On December 16, 2009, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution honoring the 50th anniversary of Kind of Blue and "reaffirming jazz as a national treasure".

[60][61] Many improvisatory rock musicians of the 1960s referred to Kind of Blue for inspiration, along with other Davis albums, as well as Coltrane's modal records My Favorite Things (1961) and A Love Supreme (1965).

"[65] Gary Burton, of Berklee College of Music, noted the consistent innovation present throughout the album, stating: "It wasn't just one tune that was a breakthrough, it was the whole record.

"[66] Along with Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet (1959) and Coltrane's Giant Steps (1960), Kind of Blue has often been recommended by music writers as an introductory jazz album, for similar reasons: the music on both records is very melodic, and the relaxed quality of the songs makes the improvisation easy for listeners to follow, without sacrificing artistry or experimentation.

Fifty years after its release, Kind of Blue continues to transport listeners to a realm all its own while inspiring musicians to create to new sounds—from acoustic jazz to post-modern ambient—in every genre imaginable.

"[68] Renowned hip-hop artist and rapper Q-Tip reaffirmed the album's reputation and influence when discussing the significance of Kind of Blue, stating "It's like the Bible—you just have one in your house.

[73][74] Late in his life, from the electric period on, Davis repeatedly disregarded his earlier work, such as the music of Birth of the Cool or Kind of Blue.

But I have no feel for it anymore—it's more like warmed-over turkey.When Shirley Horn insisted, in 1990, that Davis reconsider playing the gentle ballads and modal tunes of his Kind of Blue period, he demurred: "Nah, it hurts my lip.

The album has been remastered many times during the compact disc era, including in 1982 by CBS/Sony Japan catalog number 35DP 62 and the 1986 Columbia Jazz Masterpieces reissue.

[78] The significant 1992 remaster corrected the original recording speed for side one, which had caused all prior releases to be slightly off-pitch.

[78] In 2005, a DualDisc release included the original album, a digital remastering in 5.1 Surround Sound and LPCM Stereo, and a 25-minute documentary Made in Heaven about the making and influence of Kind of Blue.