Birth of the Cool

Birth of the Cool
Compilation album by
ReleasedFebruary 1957
RecordedJanuary 21 and April 22, 1949; March 9, 1950; in New York City
GenreCool jazz
Length35:29
LabelCapitol
ProducerWalter Rivers, Pete Rugolo
Miles Davis chronology
Collectors' Items
(1956)
Birth of the Cool
(1957)
'Round About Midnight
(1957)
Miles Davis compilation chronology
Miles Davis Volume 2
(1955)
Birth of the Cool
(1957)
Basic Miles
(1973)

Birth of the Cool is a compilation album by the American jazz trumpeter and bandleader Miles Davis, released in February 1957 by Capitol Records.[nb 1] It compiles eleven tracks recorded by Davis's nonet for the label over the course of three sessions during 1949 and 1950.[5]

Featuring unusual instrumentation and several notable musicians, the music consisted of innovative arrangements influenced by Afro-American music and classical music techniques, and marked a major development in post-bebop jazz. As the title suggests, these recordings are considered seminal in the history of cool jazz. Most of them were originally released in the 10-inch 78-rpm format and are all approximately three minutes long.

  1. ^ "Buyboard". The Billboard. February 9, 1957. p. 25.
  2. ^ Kahn, Ashley (2012). Miles Davis: The Complete Illustrated History. Voyageur Press. p. 50. ISBN 9781610586825.
  3. ^ Myers, Marc (2019). Why Jazz Happened. University of California Press. p. 90. ISBN 9780520305519.
  4. ^ Davis, John S. (2020). Historical Dictionary of Jazz. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. xxiv. ISBN 9781538128152.
  5. ^ a b Smith, Chris (2009). 101 Albums That Changed Popular Music. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 7–9. ISBN 978-0-19-537371-4. Retrieved February 22, 2011 – via gobal.oup.com.


Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).