Items12The creator’s order
  1. 1Kind of Blue (2018)Kind of Blue (2018)Released 1 Jan 2018Listening to the opening track, So What, you hear Paul Chambers state a calm bass question answered by a gentle two-note piano chord. Rather than chasing dozens of chord changes, the soloists improvise over just two musical scales across nine minutes. Miles Davis uses this vast acoustic space to…0
  2. 2My Favorite Things (1961)My Favorite Things (1961)Released 1 Jan 1961John Coltrane transformed a familiar Broadway showtune into an intoxicating, open-ended trance. McCoy Tyner lays down a shimmering, hypnotic two-chord piano vamp that rocks like a pendulum, freeing Coltrane's soprano saxophone to soar with serpentine Eastern-influenced melodic variations that build…0
  3. 3Maiden Voyage (1965)Maiden Voyage (1965)Released 1 Jan 1965Herbie Hancock captures the serene, undulating motion of the open sea using suspended modal chords that never fully resolve. Drummer Tony Williams dances across his cymbals with extraordinary dynamic sensitivity, creating an airy, weightless atmosphere for Freddie Hubbard's lyrical trumpet and…0
  4. 4The Real McCoy (2007)The Real McCoy (2007)Released 1 Jan 2007Stepping forward after years anchoring John Coltrane's quartet, McCoy Tyner unleashed his thunderous left-hand quartal piano voicings on Passion Dance. Built over a relentless, single-chord pedal point and Elvin Jones's surging polyrhythmic drums, the music demonstrates that modal jazz can feel…0
  5. 5Juju (1965)Juju (1965)Released 1 Jan 1965Wayne Shorter uses modal frameworks to evoke ritual, mystery and spiritual gravity. Backed by McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman and Elvin Jones, Shorter's elliptical tenor saxophone phrases on the title track and House of Jade circle around dark modal vamps, letting the resonance of sustained tones…0
  6. 6Page One (1963)Page One (1963)Released 1 Jan 1963Recorded as Joe Henderson's debut, this session balances Blue Note swing with spacious modal architecture. On Kenny Dorham's immortal Blue Bossa and Henderson's Recorda Me, the band merges Latin rhythmic pulses with modal clarity, allowing Henderson's warm, muscular tenor saxophone to tell clear,…0
  7. 7Happenings (2006)Happenings (2006)Released 1 Jan 2006Bobby Hutcherson's vibraphone brings a luminous, crystalline texture to modal composition. In intimate partnership with Herbie Hancock's piano, tracks like Maiden Voyage and Bouquet float on shimmering mallet harmonics and wide-interval chords, replacing bebop velocity with impressionistic, sunlit…0
  8. 8Everybody Digs Bill Evans (1959)Everybody Digs Bill Evans (1959)Released 1 Jan 1959The centrepiece of this trio recording is Peace Piece, an entirely spontaneous solo modal improvisation. Evans repeats a simple, rocking two-chord left-hand figure while his right hand wanders with complete freedom, weaving classical counterpoint, impressionistic colours and breathtaking dynamic…0
  9. 9Eastern Sounds (1961)Eastern Sounds (1961)Released 1 Jan 1961Detroit multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef expanded modal jazz by introducing Middle Eastern and Asian wind instruments. On The Plum Blossom, he plays the Chinese clay flute xun over a simple, meditative five-note oboe and bass drone, proving that modal space can transport listeners across…0
  10. 10Karma (1969)Karma (1969)Released 1 Jan 1969Spanning thirty-two monumental minutes, The Creator Has a Master Plan unfolds over a gentle, recurring two-chord modal bassline. Leon Thomas's buoyant vocal yodelling and Pharoah Sanders's ascending tenor saxophone evolve from tranquil spiritual warmth into cleansing waves of physical sound before…0