Music History Events: Jazz albums recorded Jan. 21

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Music History Events: Jazz albums recorded Jan. 21

Music History Events: Jazz albums recorded Jan. 21:

Miles Davis – Birth of the Cool (1949)

Birth of the Cool is a compilation album by the American jazz trumpeter and bandleader Miles Davis. It was released in February or March 1957 on Capitol Records. It compiles eleven tracks recorded by Davis’s nonet for the label over the course of three sessions during 1949 and 1950.

Featuring unusual instrumentation and several notable musicians, the music consisted of innovative arrangements influenced by Afro-American music and classical music techniques, and marked a major development in post-bebop jazz. As the title suggests, these recordings are considered seminal in the history of cool jazz. Most of them were originally released in the 10-inch 78-rpm format and are all approximately three minutes long.

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TrackList:

1.Move 2.Jeru 3.Moon Dreams 4.Venus de Milo 5.Budo 6.Godchild 7.Boplicity 8.Israel 9.Deception 10.Rocker 11.Rouge

PERSONNEL:

MILES DAVIS, trumpet on all tracks, accompanied by:

SIDE A, 1-4: Kai Winding (trombone), Junior Collins (flugelhorn), Bill Barber (tuba), Lee Konitz (alto sax), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax), Al Haig (piano), Joe Shulman (bass), Max Roach (drums).
New York, January 21, 1949.

SIDE A, 5-6 & SIDE B, 1-2: J.J. Johnson (trombone), Sandy Siegelstein (flugelhorn), Bill Barber (tuba), Lee Konitz (alto sax), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax), John Lewis (piano), Nelson Boyd (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums).
New York, April 22, 1949.

SIDE B, 3-6: J.J. Johnson (trombone), Gunther Schuller (flugelhorn), Bill Barber (tuba), Lee Konitz (alto sax), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax), John Lewis (piano), Al McKibbon (bass), Max Roach (drums), Kenny Hagood (vc on B6 only).
New York, March 9, 1950.

(*) BONUS TRACK: Miles Davis (tp), Jackie McLean (as), Sonny Rollins (ts), Walter Bishop, Jr. (p), Charles Mingus (b), Art Blakey (d).
New York, October 5, 1951

This “Birth of The Cool” was, in the context of the time in which it was recorded, (between January 1949 and March 1950), a real stylistic revolution. The twelve songs that make up the complete version of this wonderful album, reissued many times throughout these almost eighty years that have passed since it was recorded, constitute the foundational corpus of a musical movement. It was the product of long weeks of gestation by the arranger, Gil Evans, and the trumpeter, Miles Davis. The so-called “Cool Jazz” style.

Gil Evans came, musically speaking, from the Claude Thornhill orchestra and Miles Davis came, no more and no less, from being Charlie Parker”s regular trumpet player. The first “tuba band” -later called the Capitol Orchestra or Noneto-, performed in September 1948 at the Royal Roost in New York for two weeks and aroused little interest from the public and a lot of enthusiasm from the critics. Those first dalliances were still influenced by the nervous climate of the prevailing bebop.

The “Cool” movement, so called in a reductive way, was born here, on this album, gestated for months in a modest apartment that Gil Evans had in New York. It was recorded during three sessions over more than a year of deep research, and today are absolutely essential in any disco or jazz collection. It also turns out, and this is another reason to recommend this fabulous album, that these are the first recordings of Miles Davis to his name in his entire career, when he was only 24 years old.

From the release of this album, which was immediately extraordinarily well received, not only among the “boopers” of the Big Apple, but also on the West Coast of the United States, a powerful seed germinated, which ultimately served as the basic pillar for what, since then, has been called the “Wes Coast Jazz” sound.

The secret of that music, unrepeatable not only because of the physical absence of its protagonists, but also because it corresponds in a historical and stylistic sense to an era of recapitulation, modernity, and reflection on the jazz heritage. It was recognized by the perfect group execution of the instrumentalists. The discipline of its musicians with the arrangements, the imagination, and inventiveness of the solos, and the reflective, lyrical, and introspective character of the resulting music.

“Cool” Give jazz a new musical vision of enormous importance, and helped Miles Davis to clearly define the main features of the style. This would make him, throughout his prolific and successful career, one of the most influential musicians and creators of all time.

The other main protagonists of the so-called “Capital Nonet”, who participate in the gestation of this album, are the baritone saxophonist, Gerry Mulligan, the alto saxophonist, Lee Konitz, the trombonists, Kai Winding and Jay Jay Johnson, the drummers, Kenny Clark and Max Roach, and the pianists, Al Haig and John Lewis. Nelson Bopy and Joe Shulman on double bass. In the arrangements, as we have already said, Gil Evans, John Lewis, Johnny Carisi, and Miles Davis.

An absolutely essential album in the history of jazz.

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Milt Jackson – Ballads and Blues (1956)

Ballads & Blues is an album by the American jazz vibraphonist Milt Jackson of performances recorded in 1956 and released on the Atlantic label.

Track listing

All compositions by Milt Jackson, except as indicated

"So in Love" (Cole Porter) – 3:14
"These Foolish Things" (Eric Maschwitz, Jack Strachey, Harry Link) – 4:25
"Solitude" (Duke Ellington) – 4:43
"The Song Is Ended" (Irving Berlin) – 4:40
"They Didn't Believe Me" (Jerome Kern, Herbert Reynolds) – 3:45
"How High the Moon" (Nancy Hamilton, Morgan Lewis) – 6:13
"Gerry's Blues" – 5:02
"Hello" – 3:47
"Bright Blues" – 6:13

Recorded in New York City on January 17 (tracks 6, 8 & 9) and January 21 (tracks 1, 3 & 5) and at the Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey on February 14 (tracks 2, 4 & 7), 1956
Personnel
January 17, 1956 (tracks 6, 8, 9)

Milt Jackson – vibraphone
Lucky Thompson – tenor saxophone
Skeeter Best – guitar
John Lewis – piano
Oscar Pettiford – bass
Kenny Clarke – drums

The Arrival of Victor Feldman (1958)

The Arrival of Victor Feldman is an album by vibraphonist and pianist Victor Feldman recorded in 1958 and released on the Contemporary label.

Track listing

All compositions by Victor Feldman except where noted.

"Serpent's Tooth" (Miles Davis) – 3:28
"Waltz" (Frédéric Chopin) – 5:30
"Chasing Shadows" – 3:58
"Flamingo" (Ted Grouya, Edmund Anderson) – 3:18
"S'posin'" (Paul Denniker, Andy Razaf) – 4:29
"Bebop" (Dizzy Gillespie) – 2:46
"There Is No Greater Love" (Isham Jones, Marty Symes) – 4:24
"Too Blue" – 4:13
"Minor Lament" – 4:00
"Satin Doll" (Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Johnny Mercer) – 5:59

Personnel

Victor Feldman – vibraphone, piano
Scott LaFaro – bass
Stan Levey – drums

Miles Davis – E.S.P. (1965)

E.S.P. is an album by Miles Davis, recorded on January 20–22, 1965 and released on August 16 of that year by Columbia Records. It is the first release from what is known as Davis’s second great quintet: Davis on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. The album was named after a tune by Shorter, and was inspired by the fact that, “since Wayne Shorter’s arrival, the five members of the quintet seemed to communicate by mental telepathy.

Personnel

Miles Davis – trumpet
Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone
Herbie Hancock – piano
Ron Carter – bass
Tony Williams – drums

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Tracklist:

E.S.P.
Written-By – Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter
Eighty-One
Written-By – M. Davis, R. Carter
Little One
Written-By – H. Hancock
R.J.
Written-By – R. Carter
Agitation
Written-By – M. Davis
Iris
Written-By – Mies Davis, W. Shorter
Mood
Written-By – Ron Carter

William Parker – Through Acceptance of the Mystery Peace (1979)

Through Acceptance of the Mystery Peace is an album by bassist William Parker, his debut as a leader. It was recorded during 1974–1979, and was initially released on LP in limited quantities by Parker’s Centering label in 1980. In 1998, the album was reissued on CD by Eremite Records in expanded form. The recording features Parker in ensembles of varying size.

According to Parker’s liner notes accompanying the 1998 reissue, the album title is from a line of poetry by Kenneth Patchen: “through acceptance of the mystery peace & only through peace can come acceptance of the mystery.” The composition of the same name is dedicated to and inspired by Patchen. “Desert Flower” is for “those human beings who flower within the desert, whether that desert is the Sahara, or the streets of Watts or Capetown.” “Rattles and Bells and the Light of the Sun” is dedicated to John Coltrane. “Commitment” is “a prayer that echoes the words ‘thank you God for the gift of life’,” while “Face Still Hands Folded” was written for Parker’s father, and is part of a ballet titled “Dawn Voice.”

Track listings

All compositions by William Parker.
1980 LP release

Track timings not provided.

"Desert Flower"
"Rattles and Bells and the Light of the Sun"
"Commitment"
"Face Still Hands Folded"

1998 CD reissue

"Desert Flower" – 19:42
"Through Acceptance of the Mystery Peace" – 9:43
"Rattles and Bells and the Light of the Sun" – 12:12
"Commitment" – 18:36
"Face Still Hands Folded" – 8:03

“Desert Flower” and “Through Acceptance of the Mystery Peace” were recorded on January 21, 1979. “Rattles and Bells and the Light of the Sun” was recorded in February 1974. “Commitment” was recorded in August 1977. “Face Still Hands Folded” was recorded on October 24, 1976.
Personnel

“Desert Flower”

William Connell, Jr – alto saxophone
Daniel Carter – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute, trumpet
Rozanne Levine – clarinet
Peter Kuhn – bass clarinet
Arthur Williams – trumpet
Toshinori Kondo – alto horn
William Parker – bass
Denis Charles – drums

“Through Acceptance of the Mystery Peace”

William Connell, Jr – flute
Jason Kao Hwang – violin
Polly Bradfield – violin
Tristan Honsinger – cello

“Rattles and Bells and the Light of the Sun”

Jemeel Moondoc – alto saxophone
Charles Brackeen – tenor saxophone
Henry Warner – clarinet
Arthur Williams – trumpet
Billy Bang – violin
William Parker – bass
Roger Baird – percussion

“Commitment”

John Hagen – tenor saxophone
Arthur Williams – trumpet
William Parker – bass

“Face Still Hands Folded”

William Parker – recitation
Ramsey Ameen – violin
Billy Bang – violin

Ed Schuller – The Eleventh Hour (1991)

Edwin Gunther Schuller (January 11, 1955) is an American jazz bassist and composer. His father is Gunther Schuller, a composer, horn player, and music professor, and his younger brother is drummer George Schuller.