This nonet will be recreating the sound of the famous 1957 Miles Davis album: “Birth of the Cool” which advanced the jazz world into the post-bop era, nudging jazz into something orchestral, experimental and definitely “cool”. This album featured predominantly the writing and arranging skills of the band more than the individual soloing of some the era’s greatest jazz musicians. Robin Jessome has worked hard to transcribe and arrange all the tracks from this album for a modern take on a classic sound. We will also play a few tunes that never made it to the disk but still capture the great “cool” sound of the early 60’s.
The Jazz Room is in for a treat with the balanced sound of alto saxophone (Ken Hadley) and trumpet (Chris Alcantara) in the higher registers, trombone (Robin Jessome) and french horn (Rob Gellner) in the middle, and tuba (Paul Ellingham) and baritone saxophone (Taylor Ellingham) on the bottom. A three piece rhythm section (Jeff Daniels, Dan Brennan, and Andy Macpherson) compliments the group. The players at this concert are members of the KW Big Band Theory, scaled back to a nine-piece ensemble in order to explore this seminal sound.
About the recording…..
As jazz’s bebop movement flourished during the late 1940s with its fast-paced rhythms from virtuosos like trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and saxophonist Charlie Parker, trumpeter Miles Davis headed off in a new direction.Taking cues from the innovations learned in Parker’s group, Davis, along with his nonet, recorded 12 songs in a two-year span that, when released together on one album, became known as Birth of the Cool.
In 1949, arranger Gil Evans’s New York basement apartment, where various jazz musicians had gathered, became ground zero for the nonet’s formation. For the three recording sessions that took place Jan. and April 1949 and March 1950, Davis used the unlikely instruments of French horn and tuba, something first brought to light by the Claude Thornhill Orchestra, of which Evans was the principal arranger. Davis also enlisted the more traditional baritone and alto saxophones, trumpet, trombone, piano, bass and drums to complete the nonet.
This instrumentation, coupled with the likes of Davis on trumpet, baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, pianist John Lewis, alto saxophonist Lee Konitz and drummers Kenny Clarke and Max Roach, created a warm, relaxed, albeit “cool,” sound that would become the standard for West Coast jazz.
Even though these songs clock in at an average of three minutes, the Davis nonet uses the shortened time span to create something magical. Davis’ trumpet solos are brief and don’t fly at a furious rate, but you can almost hear his soul pouring out of each note on Evans’ graceful arrangement of “Moon Dreams.” Mulligan and Konitz also follow the short-and-sweet-solo formula on songs like the Mulligan-penned “Jeru” and Lewis’ arrangement of Denzil Best’s “Move,” respectively.
Birth of the Cool serves as a perfect example of how the music can evolve to create something timeless.
