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JJ 01/75: Miles Davis & His Tuba Band Pre-Birth Of The Cool

Fifty years ago Chris Sheridan found the live precursor to what became known as the Birth of the Cool rougher round the edges, surprisingly real and more compelling than its studio successor. First published in Jazz Journal January 1975

When this enormously important and influential band made its final recordings for Capitol, 18 months had elapsed since its short, but epochal, engagement at the Royal Roost. Now, little short of miracu­lously, recordings from that his­toric tenure have been unearthed. The most striking thing they demonstrate is the experimental nature of the music they presented at this ‘Metropolitan Bopera House’. For, by the time a compar­able group had been assembled for the studio sessions of 1949 and 1950, the music had acquired much greater polish. But here, down in the midst of things as they actually happened – and before they were idealized – it’s all more hectic, a bit rougher round the edges, and surprisingly real. Impressive as the Capitols are, there is something even more compelling about these earlier performances.

The same arrangements are used – more loosely executed per­haps; a little flat behind Hagood’s vocal on Darn That Dream. But there are also two items ‘new’ to the known repertoire of the band. S’il Vous Plait is a Miles Davis ar­rangement, like Hallucinations, but, unlike the latter, better-known score comprises dual parts – the busier main theme, painted darkly by baritone, trombone, French horn and tuba, is backed by a static, ethereal motif, stated by trumpet and alto. The other ‘newcomer’ is Why Do I Love You?, a rather conventional ballad scored by Gil Evans, though there is a cunning passage, preceding Hagood’s vocal, where the trumpet becomes entwined in the walking bass line. Gil also arranged Moon Dreams – the other titles were all charted by Lewis (Move) or Mulligan (Darn That Dream, Godchild). These were the scores that, married to Shorty Rogers’ Kentonian ideas, begat the West Coast ‘school’, and, divorced a decade later, re-emerged to colour the famous Miles Davis/Gil Evans collabora­tions of 1958-60. They represented a gentility unusual for the period and which was mirrored in the soloists’ work – in Miles’ plane (correct), mocking tone; in Konitz’s ice cream alto; in Mulligan’s restrained guttiness.

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Interestingly, Miles’ solos with this aggregation show a greater sense of purpose than when trans­fixed by Bird, or – soon afterwards – when his vision was temporarily wrecked by dope addiction. Konitz, too, plays quite strikingly, if with occasional fragility, and close to the level attained in his classic ‘Subconscious-lee’ recordings of the following year.

This is an enormously signific­ant release, for, if the band’s re­cords were influential, their ap­pearances 26 years ago during that too-brief fortnight in New York were more so. These airshots have captured the sound faithfully – in­deed, the recording quality is ex­ceptionally good under the circum­stances. The cover photo, inciden­tally, is of the January, 1949, Capitol studio session, showing Al Haig at the piano and Kai Winding on trombone in place of John Lewis and Mike Zwerin; similarly, the bassist’s arm belongs to Joe Shulman, not Al McKibbon. (Available from Graeme Os­borne, Flat 2, Oxford Mansions, Oxford Road South, London W4).

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Discography
(b) Why Do I Love You}; (a) God­child; S’il Vous Plait; Moon Dreams I; Hallucinations (Budo) I (19¾ min) – (d) Darn That Dream; (c) Move; Moon Dreams II; Hallucinations (Budo) II (16¾ min)
(a) Miles Davis (tpt); Mike Zwerln (tbn); John Barber (tu): Junior Collins (Fr-hn); Lee Konitz (alt); Gerry Mulligan (bari); John Lewis (pno); Al McKibbon (bs); Max Roach (dm). Royal Roost. NYC, 4/9/48.
(b) add Kenneth ‘Pancho’ Hagood (vcl). Same date.
(c) as (a). Royal Roost. NYC. 18/9/48.
(d) as (c) add Hagood (vcl). Same date.
(Durium-Cicala BLJ 8003 £1.85)

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