Annus Mirabilis

1959: The Greatest Year in Jazz

By: John Cousins

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Annus mirabilis is Latin for "wonderful year," "miraculous year," or "amazing year."

For jazz, that year was 1959. It was a pinnacle and hinge point year where the forms and advancements of the past decade were consolidated and recapitulated, and jazz stretched out in a new direction. Vistas and possibilities opened up to be explored, explicitly considered, and developed in the next decade. It was a zenith with the Janus-like quality of looking backward and forward and created some of the most beautiful and challenging music ever recorded. Included here are the albums released in 1959 that made tectonic shifts in jazz.

Jazz explores new approaches in the 1959 albums Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, Time Out by Dave Brubeck, and The Shape of Jazz to Come by Ornette Coleman, and many more.

Many jazz fans consider these recordings to be the foundation of a superb jazz collection. All were released the same year. All helped define jazz for years to come. Here is a list and why these albums are so important.