About eighteen months after the final Miles Davis Capitol Records nonet session, the next chapter in the “Birth of the Cool Legacy” was written when trumpeter/composer/arranger Shorty Rogers (born Milton Rajonsky; 1924-1994) recorded six tracks that were produced by Gene Norman. Taking place on October 8, 1951, the session was Rogers’ first as a leader… Read more
News
Donald Shirley
I recently saw the movie, “Green Book,” which is based on the life of pianist Donald Shirley (1927-2013). In 1998, I interviewed Shirley as part of the research carried out by Michael Fitzgerald and myself, culminating in the biography, “Rat Race Blues: The Musical Life of Gigi Gryce.” Gryce and Shirley grew up together in… Read more
Camille Thurman
The new CD from Camille Thurman, Waiting for the Sunrise, her fourth as leader, is a winner! Backed by a stellar ensemble including guitarist Jack Wilkins, bassist Cecil McBee, drummer Steve Williams and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, the multi-talented Thurman explores an intriguing range of songs as both vocalist and tenor saxophonist. She is clearly an up-and-coming… Read more
Discoveries
Discographies are never complete. They are always works in progress as new sessions and corrections to existing ones come along, sometimes months or even years after the original publication date. A recent example of this phenomenon occurred when my friend and collaborator Lynne Mueller brought to my attention an Art Farmer CD in her collection… Read more
Birth of the Cool Legacy: Comments
My post on The Miles Davis Birth of the Cool sessions prompted some fascinating emails to the Jazz West Coast Yahoo Group from some really knowledgeable people. I am excerpting some of their comments here. From Gordon Jack (July 19, 2018): When I interviewed Gerry Mulligan for my book Fifties Jazz Talk he told me,… Read more
The Birth of the Cool Legacy, Part 1: Miles Davis
Trumpeter and 1984 NEA Jazz Master Miles Davis (1926-1991) was a life-long innovator with an uncanny ability to discover and employ talented band members, many of whom would themselves go on to fame and fortune. He was always pushing the envelope and encouraging his sidemen to do the same. As a result, his recordings have substantially… Read more