Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

 

Genre: Jazz

Dates: 1949-1950

Less than half a decade after helping set the jazz world aflame on Charlie Parker's revolutionary bebop sessions (see below), Davis, confidently pursuing his own emotional inclinations, here cools it back down. To a great extent, he is not the star; the arrangements of Gil Evans and the young baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan (who also composes several of the best tunes and plays brilliantly) are the standouts. But, as would recur at least three times in the following quarter-century, it is Davis' vision (on this record, a racially-integrated nonet playing tunes that meld elegant, imaginative writing with improvisation) that is responsible for changing the trajectory of the music's history.

Playlist:

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



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