Miles Davis "Freddie Freeloader" (1959)

From his 1959 album "Kind Of Blue"

"Freddie Freeloader" is a composition by Miles Davis and is the second track on his seminal album Kind of Blue. The piece takes the form of a twelve-bar blues in B-flat, but the chord over the final two bars of each chorus is an A-flat7, not the traditional B-flat7 followed by either F7 for a turnaround or some variation of B-flat7 for an ending. Davis employed Wynton Kelly as the pianist for this track in place of Bill Evans, as Kelly was something of a blues specialist. The solos are by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, and Wynton Kelly.

According to the documentary Kind of Blue: Made in Heaven, the song was named after an individual named Freddie who would frequently try to see the music Davis and others performed without paying (thus freeloading). The name may have also been inspired by Red Skeltons most famous character, "Freddie the Freeloader" the hobo clown.

"Freddie Freeloader" has proven to be one of Davis' most enduring compositions. It was recorded by Stanley Jordan for his debut album Magic Touch.


Kind of Blue is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released August 17, 1959 on Columbia Records, in both mono and stereo. Recording sessions for the album took place at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City on March 2 and April 22, 1959. The sessions featured Davis's ensemble sextet, which included pianists Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, drummer Jimmy Cobb, bassist Paul Chambers, and saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. Production for the album was handled entirely by record producers Teo Macero and Irving Townsend. Following the inclusion of Bill Evans into his sextet, Davis followed up on the modal experimentations of Milestones (1958) and the '58 Sessions. Influenced by pianist George Russell's concept of scale-based musical improvisation, Davis conceived Kind of Blue entirely on modality in contrast to his earlier work with the hard bop style of jazz and its complex chord progression.

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[dpmadrid]

This album changed my life in a single night...

[CHOMPPERS95]

never heared a more simple, but brilliant, song ever

[musicfolife1]

@CHOMPPERS95 You call those improves simple?!

[Cannibalization]

Boring

[arrdvarks]

@mrteemumilto When you're based on chords, you know at the end of 32 bars that the chords have run out and there's nothing to do but repeat what you've just done—with variations. I think a movement in jazz is beginning away from the conventional string of chords... there will be fewer chords but infinite possibilities as to what to do with them."[2]

[arrdvarks]

@mrteemumilto Davis elaborated on this form of composition in contrast to the simple chord progression predominant in bebop, stating "No chords ... gives you a lot more freedom and space to hear things. When you go this way, you can go on forever. You don't have to worry about changes and you can do more with the [melody] line. It becomes a challenge to see how melodically innovative you can be. 

[arrdvarks]

@mrteemumilto [10] This style was in contrast to more typical means of composing, such as providing musicians with a complete score or, as was more common for improvisational jazz, providing the musicians with a chord progression or series of harmonies.[2]

Modal jazz of this type was not unique to this album.

[arrdvarks]

@mrteemumilto Kind of Blue is based entirely on modality in contrast to Davis's earlier work with the hard bop style of jazz and its complex chord progression and improvisation.[5] The entire album was composed as a series of modal sketches, in which each performer was given a set of scales that defined the parameters of their improvisation and style.

[arrdvarks]

@mrteemumilto Bebop or bop is a style of jazz characterized by fast tempo, instrumental virtuosity and improvisation based on the combination of harmonic structure and melody. It was developed in the early and mid-1940s. Satisfied with the results, Davis prepared an entire album based on modality.

[mrteemumilto]

@arrdvarks But then what it the genre called?

[arrdvarks]

@mrteemumilto No this is not bebop. Bebop is the generation before. Think Salt Peanut, up tempo. This was a revolution in music. Miles answer to Bebop.



[jlawren2]

I gotta transcribe W. Kelly's solo for my jazz course. I get so into it I keep on missing it even though it's the first solo!