Birth of the Cool

Birth of the Cool is an album which collects twelve songs recorded by the Miles Davis nonet for Capitol Records in 1949 and 1950.

Featuring unusual instrumentation and several notable musicians, the music featured innovative arrangements strongly inspired by classical music, and mark a major development in post-bebop jazz. As the title implies, these recordings are considered seminal in the history of cool jazz.

Background and recording history

Gil Evans contributed some charts to the sessions, acting as an advisor to a group of musicians who had met in his small New York apartment above a Chinese laundry. Evans had gained a reputation in the jazz world for his orchestration of bebop tunes for the Claude Thornhill orchestra, including Davis's "Donna Lee". Davis was seeking an alternative to the small groups typical of contemporary jazz (he was a member of Charlie Parker's quintet at the time), and in 1947 started to organise the loose circle of musicians into a working group. Rehearsals and experiments took place over the next year.

The nonet performed live only briefly — initially for a two week engagement in late August and early September 1948 at the Royal Roost Club in New York. Billed as the "Miles Davis Band", the group at this time consisted of Davis (trumpet), Mike Zwerin (trombone), Bill Barber (tuba), Junior Collins (French horn), Gerry Mulligan (baritone saxophone), Lee Konitz (alto saxophone), John Lewis (piano), Al McKibbon (bass), and Max Roach (drums). Former Dizzy Gillespie vocalist Kenny Hagood was featured on a few songs. Unusually, the arrangers (Mulligan, Evans and Lewis) were given credit. They returned to the Royal Roost later in September, and recordings from 4 September and 18 September 1948, were included on the 1998 Complete Birth of the Cool CD, alongside the later studio sides. There was a further short residency the following year at the Clique Club, but the nonet was not a financial success, and disbanded.

In 1949 Davis had a contract with Capitol to record twelve sides for 78 rpm singles, and he reformed the nonet to record three sessions in January and April 1949 and March 1950. Davis, Konitz, Mulligan and Barber were the only musicians who played on all three sessions, though the instrumental lineup was constant (excepting the omission of piano on a few songs). Originally released as singles, in 1953 eight of the tracks were compiled on a 10" vinyl album in Capitol's "Classics in Jazz" series, and in 1957 a 12" LP named Birth of the Cool added the remaining three unreleased instrumental pieces ("Move", "Budo" and "Boplicity"). The final track, "Darn That Dream" (the only song with vocals by Hagood), was included with the other eleven on a 1971 LP, and on subsequent releases.

The music is considered seminal because it launched a reaction to the prominent bebop form in modern jazz. Though the break can be exaggerated (Charlie Parker participated in the discussions Evans led, most of the musicians were drawn from the bebop scene and many continued to play in that style for years afterwards), it inspired a whole school of jazz musicians, particularly in California, usually referred to as the "cool school".

Track listing

Arrangements by the composer unless otherwise noted.

"Move" (Denzil Best, arranged by John Lewis) – 2:32
"Jeru" (Gerry Mulligan) – 3:10
"Moon Dreams" (Chummy MacGregor, Johnny Mercer, arranged by Gil Evans) – 3:17
"Venus de Milo" (Mulligan) – 3:10
"Budo" (Miles Davis, Bud Powell, arranged by Lewis) – 2:32
"Deception" (Davis, arranged by Mulligan) – 2:45
"Godchild" (George Wallington, arranged by Mulligan) – 3:07
"Boplicity" (Cleo Henry, i.e. Davis and Gil Evans, arranged by Evans) – 2:59
"Rocker" (Mulligan) – 3:03
"Israel" (Johnny Carisi) – 2:15
"Rouge" (John Lewis) – 3:13
"Darn That Dream" (Eddie DeLange, James Van Heusen, arranged by Mulligan) – 3:26

Recording dates

Tracks 1, 2, 5, 7 – 21 January 1949
Tracks 4, 8, 10, 11 – 22 April 1949
Tracks 3, 6, 9, 12 – 9 March 1950

Recordings exist of radio shows broadcast from the Royal Roost in 1948: "Birth of the Cool Theme" (Gil Evans), "Move", "Why Do I Love You?" (DeSylva, Gershwin and Gershwin, vocals by Hagood), "Godchild", "S'il Vous Plait" (John Lewis), "Moon Dreams" and "Budo", recorded on 4 September; and "Darn That Dream" (vocals by Hagood), "Move", "Moon Dreams" and "Budo" recorded on 18 September.

Personnel

Miles Davis – trumpet (all)
Kai Winding – trombone (January 1949)
J. J. Johnson – trombone (April 1949, March 1950)
Junior Collins – French horn (January 1949)
Sandy Siegelstein – French horn (April 1949)
Gunther Schuller – French horn (March 1950)
Bill Barber – tuba (all)
Lee Konitz – alto saxophone (all)
Gerry Mulligan – baritone saxophone (all)
Al Haig – piano (January 1949)
John Lewis – piano (April 1949, March 1950)
Joe Shulman – bass (January 1949)
Nelson Boyd – bass (April 1949)
Al McKibbon – bass (March 1950)
Max Roach – drums (January 1949, March 1950)
Kenny Clarke – drums (April 1949)
Kenny Hagood – vocal ("Darn That Dream" only)