The Harmony and Melodies of Jazz

The Lydian mode is based on the upward cycle of fifths. Instead of improvising around chord changes, jazz musicians started to think about harmony and melody in this way. The track Milestones on the Milestones album shows this kind of thinking in full effect. It's a 32 bar A A B A structure, but instead of a chord sequence, it's based on modes in two keys. Each section has only one implied chord - G Dorian or E flat Dorian. This style was taken even further on Davis' next album Porgi and Bess which featured much fuller orchestrations and didn't have Cold Train on it. Kind of Blue would become one of the contenders