So What
Composer: Miles Davis
Album: Kind of Blue
The definitive modal jazz tune, that is, a composition that stays in a single mode for many measures. There are two chords in this one, both played in the dorian minor mode: Sixteen measures of D minor 7, eight of E flat minor 7, eight more of D minor 7. Usually the tune's melody line is played by the bass. First recorded on trumpeter Miles Davis' immortal Kind Of Blue album, widely regarded as a milestone in jazz history and quintessential example of cool jazz. Miles' trumpet solo on this cut is perhaps his most famous recorded moment.