The Complete Birth Of The Cool

‘Genius’ is a word used somewhat loosely in the music world, but few would dispute assigning that label to the one and only Miles Davis. This year, Blue Note will re-release Miles’s legendary Complete Birth Of The Cool sessions on one CD. These are the entire album sessions plus a live recording taped at the Royal Roost, New York City, during Miles’s two-week residency of September 1948. The collection perfectly captures an epochal shift in Jazz, a move from the revolutionary, frenetic sounds of bebop to a more considered, impressionistic style, focusing on richly-chorded, mostly mid-tempo material and resplendent soloing. Also central to Miles’s ‘cool jazz’ concept was the presence of composer/arranger Gil Evans, who, across three separate New York recording dates during 1949 and 1950, assembled a red-hot nonet of musicians including saxists Lee Konitz and Gerry Mulligan, trombonists JJ Johnson and Kai Winding, pianists John Lewis and Al Haig and drummers Max Roach and Kenny Clarke. The sessions were subsequently released on several 10” 78s, but not brought together in album form until 1957. This CD edition is the ultimate version of the expanded 1998 CD set, cut from the original singles masters with gatefold packaging, rare photos, a new essay by esteemed jazz writer Ashley Kahn (Kind Of Blue, A Love Supreme) and the full, speed-corrected Royal Roost gig featuring Mulligan, Konitz, Haig and Roach.

Tracks

1~1~Move (Remastered 1998)
1~2~Jeru (Remastered 1998)
1~3~Moon Dreams (Remastered 1998)
1~4~Venus De Milo (Remastered 1998)
1~5~Budo (Remastered 1998)
1~6~Deception (Remastered 1998)
1~7~Godchild (Remastered 1998)
1~8~Boplicity (Remastered 1998)
1~9~Rocker (Remastered 1998)
1~10~Israel (Remastered 1998)
1~11~Rouge (Remastered 1998)
1~12~Darn That Dream (Remastered 1998)
1~13~Birth Of The Cool Theme (Live At The Royal Rooster, New York, September 4, 1948 / Remastered)
1~14~Symphony Sid Announces The Band (Live At The Royal Rooster, New York, September 4, 1948 / Remastered)
1~15~Move (Live At The Royal Rooster, New York, September 4, 1948 / Remastered)
1~16~Why Do I Love You (Live At The Royal Rooster, New York, September 4, 1948 / Remastered)
1~17~Godchild (Live At The Royal Rooster, New York, September 4, 1948 / Remastered)
1~18~Symphony Sid Introduction (Live At The Royal Rooster, New York, September 4, 1948 / Remastered)
1~19~Sil Vous Plait (Live At The Royal Rooster, New York, September 4, 1948 / Remastered)
1~20~Moon Dreams (Live At The Royal Rooster, New York, September 4, 1948 / Remastered)
1~21~Budo (Hallucinations) (Live At The Royal Rooster, New York, September 4, 1948 / Remastered)
1~22~Darn That Dream (Live At The Royal Rooster, New York, September 4, 1948 / Remastered)
1~23~Move (Live At The Royal Rooster, New York, September 4, 1948 / Remastered)
1~24~Moon Dreams (Live At The Royal Rooster, New York, September 4, 1948 / Remastered)
1~25~Budo (Hallucinations (Live At The Royal Rooster, New York, September 4, 1948 / Remastered)

Details

Format: CD
Artist: Miles Davis
Release Date: 05 July 2019
Genre: Jazz
Label: JAZZ OTHER
Distributor: Universal Music