"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." Miles Davis' Birth Of The Cool was the influential horn man's 1st project as a bandleader, recorded between 1949 and 1950 but not released until 1957. The original album compiles the best eleven bursts of hushed, laidback (see also: cool) jazz, all approximately three minutes long, recorded in Gil Evans' cramped basement apartment behind a Chinese laundry in midtown Manhattan. This expanded 2LP set includes the full studio album on the first LP, along with bonus studio outtake "Darn That Dream," while LP2 includes the full recordings from this nonet's (nine musicians) lone live date at The Royal Roost, breezing through revelatory renditions of the album's material and other favorites, all together on vinyl for the first time ever. Includes performances and arrangements from a slew of nascent jazz titans (Gerry Mulligan, Gil Evans, Al McKibbon, Max Roach + more). Housed in gatefold jacket with booklet containing archival photographs, extensive essay from Grammy-winning author Ashley Kahn and liner notes from Mulligan and jazz historian Phil Schaap. Recommended.

• black double vinyl pressing
• housed in gatefold jacket w/ booklet including extensive essays + liner notes from Gerry Mulligan, author Ashley Kahn + jazz historian Phil Schaap
• music label: Blue Note Records 2019

reviewed by nick nightingale 04/2019