In honor of the 70th anniversary of its original singles in 1949, The Complete Birth of the Cool by Miles Davis is being released on 2LP. The record features Miles Davis' classic Birth of the Cool as well as a second LP of live material from 1948, previously unreleased on vinyl. Legendary Jazz saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and Jazz historian Phil Schaap provide liner notes on the project, which were originally published in 1998.
The sessions, in a nondescript basement room behind a Chinese laundry in midtown Manhattan, saw a group of kindred spirits and jazz modernists come together to form a groundbreaking collective. They included the jazz-headliners-to-be Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, Max Roach, John Lewis, arranger Gil Evans and, of course trumpeter Miles Davis, then 22, who became the bandleader, helming a creative project for the first time. The nine-piece group worked together in the studio and on stage in 1949 and 1950 to little public reaction at first. It was only seven years later, when their music came together on a full LP for the first time, that its impact was fully realized.
The package features a wrapped gatefold jacket with laminated coating, as well as a brand new retrospective essay by Ashley Kahn, the author of Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece. "Birth of the Cool was a proving ground of instrumental talent and of approaches," writes Kahn. "Each of its participants would develop ideas that came from the project in their own disparate way, collectively leading jazz into a brave, postbop world in the years that followed." Jazz historian Dan Morgenstern adds: "There can be little doubt that these records triggered the advent of a successor style to bebop."
When Davis was later asked about the Birth of the Cool title, he said: "I think what they really meant was a soft sound. Not penetrating too much. To play soft you have to relax…" In his 1989 autobiography, he added: "Birth [of the Cool] was not only hummable but it had white people playing the music and serving in prominent roles…we shook people's ears a little softer than Bird or Diz did, took the music more mainstream."
| A1 | Move |
| A2 | Jeru |
| A3 | Moon Dreams |
| A4 | Venus De Milo |
| A5 | Budo |
| A6 | Deception |
| B1 | Godchild |
| B2 | Boplicity |
| B3 | Rocker |
| B4 | Israel |
| B5 | Rouge |
| B6 | Darn That Dream |
| C1 | Birth Of The Cool Theme |
| C2 | Symphony Sid Announces The Band |
| C3 | Move |
| C4 | Why Do I Love You |
| C5 | Godchild |
| C6 | Symphony Sid Introduction |
| C7 | S'il Vous Plait |
| D1 | Moon Dreams |
| D2 | Budo (Hallucinations) |
| D3 | Darn That Dream |
| D4 | Move |
| D5 | Moon Dreams |
| D6 | Budo (Hallucinations) |
