This fine compilation focuses on Miles Davis's early period, during which he made the pivotal transition from high profile bebopper to the progenitor of "cool" jazz. Culled from chronologically sequenced recordings made between 1947 and 1949, the 20-track set is a treasure trove of gems with a personnel list that will make jazz fanatics drool. Since Davis's BIRTH OF THE COOL sessions fell in between two straightforward bebop dates, the effect is one of radical juxtaposition.
The first session yields three Davis tunes, "Milestone," "Little Willie Leaps," and "Half Nelson," and feature complex, intense playing from Charlie Parker and Davis, with an emphasis on speed and facility in the conventional bop style. The latter part of the album is taken from a concert Davis performed with the Tadd Dameron Quintet featuring "Embraceable You," Parker's "Ornithology," and Coleman Hawkins' "Rifftide." Again, bebop predominates. Sandwiched between these are Davis's "cool" dates with Gerry Mulligan and Al Haig, which emphasize slower tempos, more expansive structure, and indicate the development of Miles's trademark understated tone and abstract phrasing. Listened to side by side, Davis's bop and "cool" styles are as different from each other as they are individually revolutionary.
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