Birth of the Cool

Solid for sure, as you'd expect from him. It definitely feels like an earlier album than his true greats though. Still very enjoyable, but if I'm going to listen to Miles Davis it probably isn't the one I would immediately reach for.

It wasn't easy listenning for me. But it was interesting and I liked some songs. In the end I prefered the Jazz mix Spotify produced at the end of the album.

Consistently good throughout. I never found myself bored. Concise set of songs. All around good jazz. “Cool” is an apt description.

It's a well-known fact that Miles Davis is cool. Unfortuately for me, I'm not, and as a result jazz doesn't really do much for me. Nevertheless, you can tell this is quality stuff, even if it isn't something I'm particularly into.

Not bad. Smoother jazz which was pleasant to listen to. 3/5

Swinging drums, tight solos and emphasis on the horns harmony - fairly short compositions. Very jarring when the singer comes in on the last track.

I mean what can you say. Top

Miles Davis is a legend.

This album slaps from start to finish.

A really interesting Miles Davis compilation album; quite different from the albums that came later, like Kind Of Blue. Much shorter compositions on this album with a lot less solos than on Miles Davis' later work. And it makes it a really interesting timepiece, but it can't hold my attention as long as as the jazz that came later.

Looking into it, the compositions are so short because the music was recorded in 1949 when everything was released on 78 rpm records with little space on it. Almost all jazz from that time consists of shorter songs and you only got real albums from 1950, so that's why. You have to see this jazz in its time, of course, a lot would change in jazz in the next 15 years.

So it remains a bit of background music for me. Nevertheless: beautiful arrangements, good compositions, excellent players, good album. And the key role of these recordings in the development of post-war jazz can hardly be denied, of course.

This is one of the higher jazz ratings I think I'll give. I liked some of it, I enjoyed the in and out of the song length, and I liked the nostalgia that it brought of listening to this with my grandfather.

All that said, I can't ever see putting it on again for no reason.

Very enjoyable, even if I still don't quite understand all the nuances of the genre. That's a me problem, not a Miles problem, and one of the many reasons I am delighted to be doing this!

I’d class myself as a casual jazz fan, probably about 4/5 jazz albums Iv listened to frequently. My all time favourite being kinda blue. So I was excited to see this on the list.

Enjoyed this, nice short songs easy to appreciate, much less of a challenge than bitches brew, but can tell this is a few years before kind of blue where miles would truly hone his craft. Great jazz album worth a list will be added to my rotation list, just not quite masterpiece level.

Dit luistert gewoon lekker weg. Toch is het wat minder interessant allemaal dan 'Kind of Blue', het album dat ik eerder van meneer Davis kreeg. Een album dat je móet horen? Dat denk ik niet. Wel een album dat je waarschijnlijk heel veel op de achtergrond kan opzetten.

Olive Garden

I've heard of Miles Davis, but never listened to any of his stuff before today. I must say that jazz is not my favourite, and just instrumental music even less so. This music is beautiful in its own right though, and would be perfect for setting ambiance in a coffee shop or restaurant.

Favourite songs: Budo, Darn That Dream, Moon Dreams, Jeru

Least favourite songs: Venus De Milo, Deception

2/5

Historic, groundbreaking, and... kind of boring.

A dense and energetic album, that has added to my snowballing desire to delve more deeply into the world of Jazz. Two things stand out to my extremely untrained jazz-listening ears.

The musical agility of each performer is incredible. My hands and lungs ache just thinking about the endurance and precision of movement and breath involved to play these parts. This stands out clearly in the tracks 'Move', 'Budo' and more subtly in 'Israel'.

The band is cohesive and perfectly aligned with one another. Their level of collective coordination, even amongst the most frenetic parts of the songs, reveals their dedication to the craft. I can't really point to anyone track as showcasing this more than any other, as I feel like it's evident at all points, in all tracks.

icy 🥶

Made me feel uneasy, but I'm not sure if it was because I was feeling uneasy anyway.