Album Reviews

After calming down following the original Birth of the Cool review I took a deep breath and listened again. What's more i realized I had two more versions of the record: a Dutch Odeon pressing (lime green Capitol label) from 1972 (5C052 80 798) with a different cover that you can pick up on Discogs for a few bucks, and a mysterious one from I believe a German label called Good Buy (Good Buy 2 F 671045) released around the same time as Classic's, which remains the best sounding available and so costs well over $100 on Discogs.

The Good Buy reissue is probably a bootleg cut from a CD—probably the 1998 reissue references in the credits here. That's what it sounds like. It's flat and bright and after a while annoying but has more life than does the new reissue. That said, the packaging on the new reissue rates an 11. It's modeled after a Music Matters reissue with an inner gatefold containing a few good Miles black and whites, one glossy on the inner gatefold and a larger striking shot of a young Miles holding his horn. The booklet's essay by music historian Ashley Kahn and some great photos in the booklet almost makes it worth the purchase despite the dreadful sound—and I don't take back a word of what I originally wrote.

In fact, what I suggest doing, is buying this, getting the Dutch pressing off of Discogs for a few dollars and substituting it for what comes with this set. It's better. By far. Interestingly the Gerry Mulligan essay appearing in this new reissue's booklet is on the back of that 1972 Dutch reissue and for all I know that's where it original appeared and that's for what Mulligan wrote it. There's also a short interesting essay by Phil Schaap from 1998, probably written for the aforementioned CD reissue from that year.

The final page credits insist that previous reissues of the studio album were mastered from "second generation sources". It continues: "This release marks the first time since 1957 the LP has been mastered from original analog session reels." I believe it!

But that just makes this an even greater disgrace. All of the producer's attention was paid to the packaging, none was paid to the sound. Here's an idea: let's have an all analog re-do done right and packaged in a plain white paper sleeve. If you already bought this, you'd have to pay some more but if you love this music, it would be well worth it.

Kahn's essay is fascinating and makes clear that these were overlooked sessions that had little impact when first released on 78s. The music was considered "oddball"—a little big band (originally labeled "Miles Davis and his Orchestra") and the great title "Birth of the Cool" was a later creation. I hope the essay makes it online because it's a fascinating and worthwhile read.

As I wrote, I'm not taking back a word of what I originally wrote. It was not an overreaction. It was the truth.