Indeed, the most remarkable thing about these sessions - arranged by Gil Evans and featuring such heavy-hitters as Kai Winding, Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, and Max Roach - is that they sound intimate, as the nonet never pushes too hard, never sounds like the work of nine musicians. After all, there's a reason why this music was called cool it has a hip, detached elegance, never getting too hot, even as the rhythms skip and jump. This is where the elasticity of bop was married with skillful, big-band arrangements and a relaxed, subdued mood that made it all seem easy, even at its most intricate. So dubbed because these three sessions - two from early 1949, one from March 1950 - are where the sound known as cool jazz essentially formed, Birth of the Cool remains one of the defining, pivotal moments in jazz.
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