Tuesday, September 9, 2008

birth of the cool



photograph by mary ellen mark.



capitol CDP 94550.

A jazz standard from the saintly Miles Davis. "Birth Of The Cool" predates the best of Miles by a good decade or so, in my opinion, but this is - as they say - 'dope'.

Recorded from a session in NYC on March 9th, 1950, with J.J. Johnson on trombone; Gunther Schuller on french horn; Bill Barber on tuba; Lee Konitz on alto saxophone; Gerry Mulligan on baritone saxophone; Al McKibbon on bass; and Max Roach on drums. Written by Chummy MacGregor and Johnny Mercer. Produced by Gil Evans.

Reissued on Blue Note.

MILES DAVIS: MOON DREAMS from "Birth Of The Cool" LP (Capitol) 1950 (US)

PURCHASE THE BIRTH OF THE COOL

15 comments:

said...

ib,

Miles is THE MAN!

Cool Jazz was not every jazz afficionados cup o' joe, but Birth of the Cool is definitely "as they say - 'dope'".

If you're dating Miles' best ten year on, then you must be a fan of my all-time favorite Miles - Sketches of Spain.

Are you familiar with On the Corner? Very un-Miles in many ways & a favorite target of jazz critics, but it is the most 'street' record ever recorded by a jazz musickian.

ib said...

nathan,

you are a man of constant but welcome surprises. Check out the archives; I featured "On The Corner" previously.

My Top Miles:

#1: On The Corner.
#2: In A Silent Way.
#3: Sketches Of Spain.

Miles is a true genius. No hint of exaggeration, no word of a lie.

When I listen to Miles, he feels like an older brother. And I'm not even black.

ib said...

I always figured that bad looking dude out of "Oz" would clean my clock simply for being a white boy.

Peewit said...

My favourite Miles Davis comes from the 1956 quartet of albums, cookin' relaxing' steamin' and workin' It is just amazing to think that those four albums came from just 2 sessions

ib said...

Peewit! I thought you had abandoned SibLINGSHOT over this last week or so.

I shall not lie. I am not familiar with all those albums. With the exception of "Round About Midnight" and "Walkin'" my favourite Miles begins with "Sketches" in 1960. He is one of the very few giants in music who I believe can do little wrong.

Miles Davis should be taught in every elementary school, I firmly believe. The man was more than a musician.

Thank you for the comment.

Peewit said...

I'm afraid I have been suffering the "any major dude without a heart" syndrome. I've been reading your posts but haven't been moved to comment up till now. You may have noticed another couple today. I've been busy so have only had snatched chances to surf. (i have posted to my blog though!)

LV said...

lovely record! the photo by mary ellen mark is amazing too!
thanks for sharing!

ib said...

LV. Nice that you enjoyed both the track and the photograph. Good to hear from you again.

Maybe you will invite me to read your other blog, since you are so reticent to post on "What It Isn't ?"

ib said...

Peewit. What is this "The Any major Dude with Half a Heart" syndrome ? Aside from it being an excellent blog ?

said...

ib,

this time i might be constant in my surprise but perhaps not welcome. i'm using my taste(or lack thereof) in movies being as extreme as my taste(ditto above)in musick as my excuse. are you familiar with the 1992 flick Dingo? i recommend it to any fan of Miles. it's kinda like Crossroads in a Miles/Jazz rather than Macchio/Blues way.

i dunno, that black rhino i smoked just kicked in (not to make you jealous again like the mammoth hunter pin thing, but after all, this is northern cali & it is harvest time) so i'm just ramblin'. Sorry.

said...

ib,

one more thing...one more thing.
when i read your blog, i feel like you're my younger brother. and i'm not even black,too.

N

said...

ib,

really, this is the last thing.
why is it that when i'm high, the word verifications aren't funny, but when i'm not, they are. that doesn't make sense.

i'll stop being a pest (for a while0.

Ø

like right now it says cnajvrvw, what the...?

ib said...

The word verification thing ?

That is your penance for not just having a good stash in the first instance, but for wantonly bragging.

said...

mea maxima culpa

ib said...

Hey! I just this minute realised I missed out "Big Fun" on that Top 3!