Review of Birth of the Cool

When these tracks were released as 10" singles back in 1957, as Classics in Jazz, jazz audiances were not ready for it and they weren't well recieved. They were not ready for the big band modal jazz but it wouldn't be too far in the near future before these tracks would become classic. As if the original title of the LP's were seeing into the future somehow. This is a great compilation of those tracks and, although short, each song carries with it a very cool sound that speaks very loudly. Having Max Roach on drums will do that. The thing that through me off a bit was the vocals on Darn That Dream. It's the only track with vocals and I wasn't expecting them. They are nice but I would rather have without, like the rest of the album. Overall I am glad I picked this up and it's worth a short to listen to if you new to cool jazz or the early Miles Davis sound.