> Which Miles Davis album is often cited as the best selling jazz album of alltime?And the answer: Kind of Blue.Released in 1959, Kind of Blue is regarded by many critics as one of the bestalbums of all time. The recording includes some of the most influential jazzmusicians in history, including saxophonists John Coltrane and CannonballAdderley.Photo courtesy: Guitar Center.Davis is widely considered to be one of thehighest calibre jazz players of the 20th century, if not of all time. Born inAlton, Illinois, to a prosperous dental surgeon, Davis enjoyed a comfortablechildhood before embarking down an impassioned music career. After playing withlocal St. Louis jazz groups, Davis went on to attend the Institute of MusicalArt, now known as The Juilliard School. However, much of the formative jazzlearning Davis experienced during this time was not from attending class – heskipped many classes and instead was schooled through jam sessions with masterssuch as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.In 1954, after overcoming drug addiction, Davis embarked on a transformative20-year period in which he was considered the most innovative musician in jazz.It was during this period that he teamed up with saxophone legends John Coltraneand Cannonball Adderley, pianists Red Garland and Bill Evans, bassist PaulChambers, and drummers “Philly” Joe Jones and Jimmy Cobb to release hit albums ’Round About Midnight (1956), Workin’ (1956), Steamin’ (1956), Relaxin’ (1956),and Milestones (1958). Davis capped this era with his most renowned album, Kindof Blue (1959). Kind of Blue experiments in modal jazz, a style in whichimprovisations are based upon sparse chords and nonstandard scales rather thanon complex, frequently changing chords.Listen to Davis’ iconic track "So What" below.