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Recorded: early 1949 – March 9, 1950


Rating: 4.600 (average of 10 ratings)


Genre: cool jazz


Quotable: “where the sound known as cool jazz essentially formed” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide


Album Tracks:

  1. Move
  2. Jeru
  3. Moon Dreams
  4. Venus de Milo
  5. Budo
  6. Deception
  7. Godchild
  8. Boplicity
  9. Rocker
  10. Israel
  11. Rouge
  12. Darn That Dream


Sales:

sales in U.S. only --
sales in U.K. only - estimated --
sales in all of Europe as determined by IFPI – click here to go to their site. --
sales worldwide - estimated --


Peak:

peak on U.S. Billboard album chart --
peak on U.K. album chart --


Singles/Hit Songs:

  • none


Awards:

Rated one of the top 1000 albums of all time by Dave’s Music Database. Click to learn more.


Birth of the Cool
Miles Davis
Review:
“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” (Erlewine).

“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” (Erlewine).


Review Source(s):


Last updated March 28, 2008.