BIRTH OF THE COOL

The album title says it all - Birth of the Cool was literally the birth of was music historians would dub as "cool jazz," a change that was desperately needed for the survival of jazz. Bebop, as awesome a style as it was for jazz, was probably also the least accessible in terms of popular appeal. Even the attempt of Bebop innovator "Dizzy" to make Bebop accessible to the public fell flat on its face, and jazz seemed to be loosing its audience for good. Mile's Davis changed all of that with this album, which combines the great soloist musicianship and sweeping technical ability of Bebop with the slower, more orchestrated "planned out" style of big band swing, creating a type of jazz that both musicians and audiences alike could appreciate, and itself was quite unique, and is the basis for the form that most classic jazz styled compositions take today - partially composed, partially soloist, with drum patters and walking bass underlying the various horn parts.

What I love, in fact borderline adore, about this album is the pure bliss that is created by the arrangements with all of the horn parts. Miles Davis is indeed one of the most brilliant composers of all time, and nothing shows the potential he would later tap into like this album. Everything is so catchy, so soothing to the ears, so pleasant, yet so exciting when it intends to be. Few arrangements of modern jazz rival what we have in almost every track here, it set the bar early on and jazz composers, even those of today, can only strive to come close to the colossal work that this is, as Mozart's works had done for classical music.

This a progressive album strictly in terms of musical development alone, less so in the sense of the obscurity and intellectualism that we find in truly progressive music. So this essential to the jazz fan alone, as those who are less than jazz enthusiasts may not find much value in this album in terms of metal stimulation, but merely a nice album to hear every once in a while. I for one am I jazz fan and LOVE this album, so I'd strongly recommend it to that crowd alone. For me, it's a solid B+; for this site, a C+; incredibly good, but not essential to your standard progger. If you love jazz, A+, go get this album now!

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