Miles Davis - Birth Of The Cool (2026) [Vinyl]

Recorded over three sessions (21 January and 22 April 1949 and 9 March 1950), Birth of the Cool broke away from be-bop and brought jazz into a new era. Led by Miles Davis who was then only 23 years old, the virtuoso madness and urgency of bop gave way to a slower, more carefully written, more harmonious, more ethereal, almost chamber music kind of jazz, dubbed “cool”... This was a style that didn’t appeal to all jazz lovers: some complained about a certain coldness in this new form, which drew inspiration from classical music. Recorded in spaced-out sessions, Birth of the Cool featured an impressive cast: Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, Junior Collins, Sandy Siegelstein, Bill Barber, J. J. Johnson, Kai Winding, Mike Zwerin, Al Haig, John Lewis, Joe Shulman, Nelson Boyd, Al McKibbon, Max Roach, Kenny Clarke and Gil Evans all participate in this velvety earthquake. Opting neither for the big band nor for the small group, Miles leads a nonet here, which allows him to emphasise the arrangements concocted for him by Gerry Mulligan, Gil Evans and John Lewis. The modernity and the rigour of the music played here probably marked some of the greatest revolutions in the history of jazz. However, disappointed by weak sales of this forward-thinking masterpiece, Capitol did not extend Miles' contract and he signed with the Prestige label instead. © Marc Zisman