Dim the lights, get out your best wine, light the candles, pop in Miles Davis? “Kind of Blue” into your CD player and don?t forget to take the turkey out of the oven.

Miles Davis, like the best of the jazz virtuosos, brings the ability to raise the temperature in almost any setting. Perhaps his most famous work, the 1959 classic, “Kind of Blue,” features Davis at his best.

Bucking the trend of increased depth in contemporary jazz at the time, Davis opts for a fewer chords and more flexible melodies to create a thoroughly stripped down and simplified sound.

The album often contrasts the slow, soothing background music of pianists Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly (on “Freddie Freeloader”) and bassist Paul Chambers with the giddy saxophones of Julian “Cannonball” Adderley and the legendary John Coltrane.

In fact, “Kind of Blue” represents some of the best of the Davis/Coltrane collaborations.The improvisational solos seem to meander between high, and low, slow and fast and continuously evolve, constantly bringing new moods and colors into the album. Davis takes the universal language of music and changes the atmosphere for those listening.

The latest re-issue features digitally re-mastered tracks (for first time the album will sound as it did when recorded, unlike the original version of the album in which the first three tracks were recorded at the wrong speed), and an alternate take of the final track “Flamenco Sketches.”

“Kind of Blue” has a sound that is still fresh today and is among the best in jazz music. One of the most influential jazz recordings of all time, this album is a must for the jazz connoisseur and casual music listener alike.

Five Sinatras out of five.