A familiar sextet, a different afternoon
Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb: these names readily bring Kind of Blue to mind. Birth of the Blue takes us to the previous year instead. Its four performances come from the session of 26 May 1958 at Columbia’s 30th Street Studio in New York. They are not unused takes from the celebrated 1959 sessions.
That is more than a discographical distinction. Here is a familiar ensemble working with different material, without every phrase having to point towards its later album. Historical prestige is not required to make the interaction interesting. Four performances provide ample room to follow contrasting weights, temperaments and ways of listening within the group.
Why these four performances were not originally one album
Three session performances appeared on the second side of Jazz Track. Its first side contained the Paris soundtrack music for Ascenseur pour l’échafaud, placing two very different recording situations on one LP. The eleven-minute-plus “Love for Sale” initially remained outside that programme because of its length. Bringing all four together therefore addresses a history of scattered presentation, not a missing session suddenly recovered.
That is a useful distinction for collectors. “On Green Dolphin Street”, “Fran-Dance”, “Stella by Starlight” and “Love for Sale” can be heard together without moving between the New York sextet and the Paris soundtrack. Their common occasion is the May 1958 session produced by Cal Lampley, rather than the later fame of a 1959 album.
Even the shorthand “the Kind of Blue lineup” benefits from qualification. Bill Evans plays these four recordings, whereas Wynton Kelly is the pianist on Kind of Blue’s “Freddie Freeloader”. The personnel connection is substantial without making every performance identical in membership. Such distinctions reward another listen. This sextet deserves attention for its own repertoire and its own studio date, rather than serving only as a preliminary chapter to a later masterpiece.
Beside Kind of Blue
Birth of the Blue need not be cast as a competitor to Kind of Blue, or a smaller substitute for it. Their proximity is more interesting: familiar musicians, a different occasion, another unfolding of events. Knowing the more famous album brings recognition, but it is not a prerequisite for enjoying this session. Later acclaim helps place the lineup in history without taking away the immediacy of the music.
About this pressing
Analogue Productions · AAPJ 172-45 · 2 LPs · 180 g vinyl per disc · 45 RPM · Quality Record Pressings (QRP). Stoughton tip-on gatefold. One performance per side: “On Green Dolphin Street,” “Fran-Dance,” “Stella by Starlight,” “Love for Sale.” This is the regular 45 RPM edition, not the separately listed blue-vinyl version.
In the magazine: Miles Davis: A History in Records
Also on SACD: Birth Of The Blue
Artist page: All titles by Miles Davis
Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe
Musicians
Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete. Cannonball Adderley sits out “Stella by Starlight”. The other five musicians also perform on that track. The musical credits apply to both offered editions.
- Miles DavisTrumpet
- Bill EvansPiano
- John ColtraneTenor saxophone
- Cannonball AdderleyAlto saxophone
- Paul ChambersDouble bass
- Jimmy CobbDrums
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