For many the ultimate jazz album, 'Kind of Blue' has held up remarkably well since its initial release in 1959. It was recorded over two just days in March and April of the same year with a sextet of celebrated musicians (including John Coltrane's instantly recognisable saxophone). The result is a full, rich work that gives plenty of different components a chance to shine, as opposed to the claustrophobia of his other masterwork 'Bitches Brew'.

While Davis was previously more suited to hard bop in this period, here he took his experiments in modal jazz to its definitive level, which meant the musicians were riffing around the same chord and scale structures rather than progressing out. Therefore the songs weren't based around the underlying chords, they were free roaming melodies. This had been attempted before, but many music scholars believe that Davis nailed it. Allegedly, it is the best-selling jazz record of all time - the music speaks for itself.

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Honourable mentions:

• Brilliant Corners (1957) - Thelonious Monk
• Solid Air (1973) - John Martyn
• Jazz at Massey Hall (1953) - Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach
• Getz/Gilberto (1964) - Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto