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some dorky info for you guys,
The tune So What is built over two chords - D minor 7 and Eb minor 7. A very simple structure. In the bebop era, which Miles was a key figure, although not as important as Parker or Gillespie, the tunes had very complex chord structures. Buildin on of the blues form, they added tons of harmonic complexity which really challenged a soloist. People think jazz players are just playing with "feeling" while in fact they are playing very disciplined complex music that is very easy to sound bad if you dont know what you're doing.
With Kind of Blue, Davis challenged the players with very simple structures. Allowing them more freedom to play, not confined by the harmonic structure. It became known as modal jazz. All of these guys are jazz greats in their own right and exploded on the concept. Coletrane took this light years ahead. My favorite on this album is Cannonball Adderly, he plays beautifully.
So, the moral? When you hear musician wannabees critiquing some rock song that its only 3 chords, your reply should be " So, Miles Davis' classic "So What" is only 2 chords, can you say thats not a great song"
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