Birth Of The Cool - Blue Note Tone Poet Series
Miles Davis
Birth of the Cool is a landmark compilation album by Miles Davis, originally released in February 1957 on Capitol Records, gathering eleven tracks from three recording sessions held between January 1949 and March 1950. The sessions brought together Davis's nine-piece nonet — featuring such luminaries as Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, Kai Winding, J.J. Johnson, and Max Roach, with arrangements by Gil Evans and Mulligan — and produced music that stood in direct contrast to the frenetic energy of bebop. Rather than pushing hard, the ensemble played with restraint and intimacy, blending elements of Afro-American music and classical technique into something disciplined, understated, and entirely new. These recordings are widely regarded as the foundational documents of cool jazz, a style defined by tonal elegance and melodic economy over raw expressiveness.
This 2026 reissue arrives through Blue Note Records' Tone Poet Vinyl Series in celebration of Davis's centennial — he would have turned 100 in May 2026 — making it his first entry in the prestigious series. Produced by Joe Harley (known as "The Tone Poet") and mastered by Kevin Gray directly from the original analog phono reel master tapes at Cohearent Audio, the record is pressed on 180-gram mono vinyl at RTI and housed in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket adorned with session photographs. The Tone Poet Series has built its reputation on approaching each reissue as though no expense should be spared in fidelity or presentation, and this edition of Birth of the Cool carries that same commitment — offering listeners what is likely the most sonically faithful vinyl presentation the album has ever received.
Birth Of The Cool - Blue Note Tone Poet Series
Miles Davis
Birth of the Cool is a landmark compilation album by Miles Davis, originally released in February 1957 on Capitol Records, gathering eleven tracks from three recording sessions held between January 1949 and March 1950. The sessions brought together Davis's nine-piece nonet — featuring such luminaries as Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, Kai Winding, J.J. Johnson, and Max Roach, with arrangements by Gil Evans and Mulligan — and produced music that stood in direct contrast to the frenetic energy of bebop. Rather than pushing hard, the ensemble played with restraint and intimacy, blending elements of Afro-American music and classical technique into something disciplined, understated, and entirely new. These recordings are widely regarded as the foundational documents of cool jazz, a style defined by tonal elegance and melodic economy over raw expressiveness.
This 2026 reissue arrives through Blue Note Records' Tone Poet Vinyl Series in celebration of Davis's centennial — he would have turned 100 in May 2026 — making it his first entry in the prestigious series. Produced by Joe Harley (known as "The Tone Poet") and mastered by Kevin Gray directly from the original analog phono reel master tapes at Cohearent Audio, the record is pressed on 180-gram mono vinyl at RTI and housed in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket adorned with session photographs. The Tone Poet Series has built its reputation on approaching each reissue as though no expense should be spared in fidelity or presentation, and this edition of Birth of the Cool carries that same commitment — offering listeners what is likely the most sonically faithful vinyl presentation the album has ever received.