Jazz Artist of the Week
Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool

"Birth of the Cool" is one of the first post-be-bop albums. It gave jazz listeners an alternative to the ferocious virtuosity and blistering tempos of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. The album ushered in a whole new style of jazz fittingly called "cool jazz." The album's arrangements where masterminded by Gil Evans with help from the baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan. The album featured an odd instrumentation for a jazz group. In addition to the standard rhythm section and horns, the group also had a tuba, french horn and Mulligan's baritone saxophone. This gave the album its distinctive warm and lyrical sound.