Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness

podcast even if you're not very into jazz, you probably know Kind of Blue.

The Jazz album that sold more copies than the other and is widely considered one of the

greatest albums ever in any genre.

Among the sex ted of musicians who played on the album, three stand out as true jazz geniuses.

Miles Davis, Bill Evans, and John Coltrane.

Today on the show, James Kaplan, author of Three Shades of Blue, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans,

in the Lost Empire of Cool, unpacks the stories behind these towering figures.

We discuss their background, their demons, their passion for musical

greatness, and what they contributed to the evolving world of jazz. And we

discuss why, when they got together to record Kind of Blue, the result was the most timeless and beloved jazz album

in history. After shows over, check at our show notes at Awim.IS slash Blue. All right James James Kaplan, welcome back to the show.

Brett, I am thrilled to be here.

Thank you for having me.

So we had you on a few years ago to talk about your biography of Frank Sinatra. You got a new musical

biography out and it's about the artist who created one of the most influential

most popular jazz albums of all time and that is kind of blue headed up by

Miles Davis. What led you to take a deep dive and to the artist behind this album?

Well truth be told I had lunch with my editor a few years back and we were

talking about what book I might do. I had had a suggestion for a book idea which

went nowhere I won't tell you what it is but he had he had a comeback and his idea was what about a book about kind of blue and I love kind of blue and I had kind of blue and like so many other people was

crazy about the album but there is a wonderful jazz writer named Ashley Khan who wrote the definitive book about that album

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