House honors Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue"

Miles Davis
House honors Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue"
Dec. 15, 2009, 2:28 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fifty years after jazz legend Miles Davis recorded "Kind of Blue," the House voted Tuesday to honor the landmark album's contribution to the genre.

Davis collaborated on the record with saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, pianists Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb.

Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat who sponsored the measure, H.Res.894, said the group "made musical history and changed the artistic landscape of this country and in some ways the world." The resolution recognizing the album's 50th anniversary passed on a 409-0 vote.

Columbia Records released the album in August 1959. The original album — only 37 minutes — had a huge impact that extended beyond jazz to other types of music — from rock musicians such as the Allman Brothers and Carlos Santana to minimalist composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass.

Davis, one of the greatest trumpeters in jazz history, died of a stroke in 1991 at age 65. He was renowned for morphing his cool jazz into fusion and experimental sounds that later gave way to jazz funk and hip-hop grooves. Cobb is the only musician from the "Kind of Blue" sessions who is still alive.