‘Technique plus improvisation’: how hearing Miles Davis’ jazz classic Kind of Blue changed the life of Venezuelan chef Richard Chaneton
- Venezuela-born Richard Chaneton of Hong Kong restaurant Mono listened to the record at the age of 11, played to him by his vinyl-loving father
- It taught him the power of combining improvisation and technique, something he aspires to at his award-winning French-Latin American fusion restaurant
One of the most influential recordings in history, Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue (1959) is the bestselling jazz album of all time.
Performed by a cast of greats including saxophonist John Coltrane and pianist Bill Evans, and signalling Davis’ move away from hard bop and into modal jazz, with extensive use of improvisation, it is widely regarded to this day as his masterwork.
Ricardo Chaneton, the Venezuela-born chef of award-winning French-Latin American fusion restaurant Mono, in Hong Kong’s Central district, tells Richard Lord how it changed his life.
I think I was around 11 years old when I first heard it. It was at home. My parents were divorced and I lived with my dad, who is and always has been a collector of vinyl. I’m sure I heard the album when I was younger, but I only have a memory of it from around 11.
I remember suddenly hearing the song “So What”, on full volume, at around 10 o’clock in the morning one day. I get goosebumps when I think about “So What”: it’s such a beautiful song.
The way the musicians created this album is insane. They’re an amazing group of creative minds; Miles Davis brought them all together. It’s like how a chef works in a restaurant: you get the best people around you, you get some ingredients, and then there’s some improvisation. You put the right people together and then let them do what they do.