Birth of the Cool

1	Move 2:35
2	Jeru 3:10
3	Moon Dreams 3:21
4	Venus de Milo 3:14
5	Budo 2:34
6	Deception 2:50
7	Godchild 3:12
8	Boplicity 3:02
9	Rocker 3:07
10	Israel 2:19
11	Rouge 3:17
12	Darn That Dream 3:26

Barnes & Noble

Although Miles Davis initially came to fame as the trumpet foil for bop giant Charlie Parker, the first recordings to gain him wide attention were the 1949 and 1950 sessions that were later dubbed “The Birth of the Cool.” These highly influential sides brought Davis together with such important collaborators as arranger Gil Evans, saxophonists Gerry Mulligan and Lee Konitz, and pianist John Lewis. The music itself, inspired by such forerunners as the saxophone playing of Lester Young and the impressionistic big-band sounds of Claude Thornhill, certainly drew on a “cooler” palette than the more frenetic modern jazz of the period. Still, this new attitude coaxed superb improvisations from the featured players, whose concise passages flowed beautifully through the highly crafted arrangements. The arresting tonal colors and more restrained atmosphere drew in a new generation of players -- mainly on the West Coast -- who, during the early 1950s, brought the popular “Cool School” of jazz into being. By that time, Davis himself had moved on to contemplate different musical vistas. Steve Futterman

All Music Guide

So dubbed because these three sessions -- two from early 1949, one from March 1950 -- are where the sound known as cool jazz essentially formed, The Birth of the Cool remains one of the defining, pivotal moments in jazz. This is where the elasticity of bop was married with skillful, big-band arrangements and a relaxed, subdued mood that made it all seem easy, even at its most intricate. After all, there's a reason why this music was called cool; it has a hip, detached elegance, never getting too hot, even as the rhythms skip and jump. Indeed, the most remarkable thing about these sessions -- arranged by Gil Evans and featuring such heavy-hitters as Kai Winding, Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, and Max Roach -- is that they sound intimate, as the nonet never pushes too hard, never sounds like the work of nine musicians. Furthermore, the group keeps things short and concise (probably the result of the running time of singles, but the results are the same), which keeps the focus on the tones and tunes. The virtuosity led to relaxing, stylish mood music as the end result -- the very thing that came to define West Coast or "cool" jazz -- but this music is so inventive, it remains alluring even after its influence has been thoroughly absorbed into the mainstream Stephen Thomas Erlewine