Artist: Miles Davis
Album: Birth of the Cool
Year: 1957
Ohhh here we go...the first album of the 1001 that I already owned before starting this venture. In fact, I also own Miles' Kind of Blue and Bitches Brew, which I'm sure will be found on this list at a later date.
I've listened to this album a lot over the years and it's probably my 2nd favorite of the three Miles Davis albums I've heard. Kind of Blue blows it, and most everything really, out of the water, but this album is full of all kinds of great songs. "Moon Dreams" is an absolutely sublime slow-burner, while "Venus de Milo" and "Rocker" are two of the pioneering cuts of cool jazz with effortless sax and trumpet interplay. The only real misstep in my opinion is "Darn That Dream," the only track in the collection that features vocals. There really isn't anything wrong with it, but the vocals kind of seem out of place here after 40 minutes of purely instrumental music.
This is one of those albums that I think people appreciate more when they understand its context. Even though the album was released in 1957, these recordings took place back in 1949-50. At that point in time, jazz was in the process of being overtaken by bebop performers like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Bop was all about fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, and virtuoso performers stretching their instruments to their capacities. Birth of the Cool was one of the first attempts to marry the slower, more structured swing music of the 1930's and early 1940's with bebop. The result is a more refined, more relaxed form of bop, and makes for great cocktail accompaniment. I think if you said the word "jazz" to a random stranger on the street, this is the kind of music they'd associate.
Jolly good show, Miles. Jolly good.
Rating: Worth repeated listens
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