1959 was a pivotal year in jazz. Jazz musicians had begun to look beyond the mainstream, and to search out new ways of improvising.
Bandleaders took bold steps towards finding their own individual sound. And in 1959 it all seemed to come together, with the release of some of the most pivotal albums in jazz history.
Nick Tipping takes you through nine essential albums from 1959, from Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue to Dave Brubeck’s Time Out, Charles Mingus’ Mingus Ah Um and John Coltrane’s Giant Steps.
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Kind of Blue
4 May 2019Arguably the greatest jazz record of all time. Miles Davis put together an all-star band, gave them a few sketches, and stood back to let them work. The result changed the sound of jazz. Audio
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Porgy & Bess
2 Mar 2019Miles Davis' partnership with Gil Evans was a match made in jazz heaven. Evans' atmospheric arrangements perfectly suited Miles' fragile trumpet tone, and nowhere more so than on their take on the… Audio
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Mingus Ah Um
13 Apr 2019Charles Mingus' extended tribute to his ancestors is a masterful collection of tunes, which together illustrate his gruff and uncompromising genius. The best place to start if you want to get into his… Audio
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Blue Soul
14 Sep 2019Blue Mitchell's trumpet sound combined the warmth of this native Florida, the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple, and the chilled-out West Coast cool school. This is one of the vital albums of 1959, a… Audio
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The Shape of Jazz to Come
12 Oct 2019It's a pretty presumptuous title for an album, but Ornette Coleman's 1959 release manages to live up to its name. Coleman dispenses with harmonic accompaniment and frees up his musicians to improvise… Audio
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Dave Brubeck's Time Out
19 Oct 2019Dave Brubeck's Time Out manages to be both an exercise in unusual time signatures, and a signature album in the West Coast cool jazz movement. Audio
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John Coltrane's Giant Steps
16 Nov 2019Although John Coltrane wrote the tune "Giant Steps" as an exercise, something about it appealed to jazz musicians- and the album it headlines became one of Coltrane's most influential. Audio
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Bill Evans: Portrait in Jazz
9 Jul 2022In Bill Evans' album Portrait in Jazz, Scott LaFaro's bass playing moved from its traditional accompanying role to be an equal partner with Bill Evans' piano. In doing so it helped redefine the piano… Audio
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Sun Ra: Jazz in Silhouette
23 Jul 2022Sun Ra and his Arkestra are best known for their avant-garde explorations into Afro-futurism, but before they went in that direction they were a tight traditional big band, with a sound somewhere… Audio
