![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/complete_birth_cool.jpg\")
I’m not afraid to say it: I know my rock. Especially if it’s prog, psych or powerpop, I feel quite confident sharing my informed opinions on the music. To a lesser extent, that’s true when it comes to soul and blues; my knowledge of the forms doesn’t approach scholarship, but I’ve heard a lot and know what’s good and what isn’t.<\/p>\n
In the matter of jazz, I’m on somewhat less solid footing. I certainly know what I like, and my knowledge grows deeper every day. But \u2013 though I have written liner notes for a half dozen jazz albums \u2013 I’m not an expert. So while I am thrilled beyond description to report that I have a copy of the new 2LP set The Complete Birth of the Cool<\/i>, I would never presume to review the album for my readers. Instead, I’ll just tell you about it. If you’ve read this far, you need it.<\/p>\n
The original Birth of the Cool<\/i> was released way back in 1957; it was a compilation put together from three sessions Miles Davis led in 1949 and 1950. Its importance in the jazz idiom cannot be overstated. It’s nigh upon impossible to imagine a great deal of what came after in the jazz world without giving credit to these sessions.<\/p>\n
But that LP didn’t include all of the recordings from those sessions. A 1998 CD did that, bringing together live and studio sessions, and even some tracks that featured vocals (by Kenny Haygood). As with many other CD-era releases \u2013 Duke Ellington’s 1999 Ellington at Newport (Complete)<\/i> comes immediately to mind \u2013 this release was an attempt to place all of the extant material into its rightful place in history. And it was very well done.<\/p>\n
But here we are more than two decades after that CD release, and some 70 years since the earliest sessions that made up that release. A segment of the listening public has \u2013 depending on one’s perspective \u2013 either wised up, gone all fetishist or bided our time. Either way, we like our vinyl.<\/p>\n
The Complete Birth of the Cool<\/i> is now available as a 2LP set, in a beautiful gatefold sleeve that includes a substantial booklet that’s impressive both in its words and its images. To my mind there’s no such thing as a coffee-table album, but if there were, this would be it. Ashley Kahn’s liner notes provide context for modern-day listeners, and the stunning photographic reproductions are jaw-dropping in their intensity. But at the end of the day, it’s about the music.<\/p>\n
If you”re at all into jazz, and if you own a turntable, you should have bought this already. If you haven’t, go do so right away. You will not<\/i> be disappointed.<\/p>\n
That’s all I have to say on the subject.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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