Review: Miles Davis – Birth of the Blue (Remastered)

The album title Birth of the Blue is a reminiscence of two albums by the legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis: it refers to Birth of the Cool, which Davis recorded in 1950 with arranger Gil Evans and which heralded the transition from bebob to cool jazz, and Kind of Blue, which was released in 1959 and became the best-selling jazz album in history. This was not least due to the fact that it was one of the first stereo albums and offered an unusually good surround sound thanks to the excellent recording technology of Munich sound engineer Fred Plaut.

Birth of the Blue takes up the challenge and adds four more tracks to the five from Kind of Blue. They were recorded at the same time as the master album with the same musicians in the same studio by the same sound engineer. Now, for the first time, they are combined and remastered on a separate album whose acoustic and playful qualities seamlessly follow on from Kind of Blue.

The Birth of the Blue playlist includes On Green Dolphin Street, Fran-Dance, Stella by Starlight and Love for Sale. With lengths between 4:43 and 11:46 minutes, this adds up to 32:04 minutes of the finest jazz. Sensitive solos, delicate accompaniment and tasteful rhythms characterize the pieces, all in the flow of the powerful predecessor.

The sound miracle was achieved by Matthew Luffhans. The sound engineer mixed Birth of the Blue from the original 3-track session tapes of the original recording onto a new 30 µs quarter-inch stereo master tape, which served as the basis for further processing. The presentation as a studio master in FLAC 192 offers a wealth of detail that is rarely to be enjoyed.

What is particularly surprising about the remaster is the clarity of the music, which sounds completely authentic. The muffled, muted characteristics of recordings from the late 1950s are nowhere to be found here, nor is the clinically exaggerated sound purity of some digital enhancements. The music comes across as if the musicians were personally in the room, on a wide stage on which each instrument can be directly grasped and clearly located in its natural sound.

The delicate dynamics of the recording are also captivating. It is an incredibly tangible demonstration of the mastery of the sextet consisting of Miles Davis with his muted trumpet, saxophonists John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley, pianist Bill Evans, Paul Chambers on bass and drummer Jimmy Cobb.

Anyone who appreciates Kind of Blue will love Birth of the Blue. And who doesn't know either of them yet? You definitely have some catching up to do. (Thomas Semmler, HighResMac)

Miles Davis, trumpet
John Coltrane, tenor saxophone
Cannonball Adderley, alto saxophone
Bill Evans, piano
Paul Chambers, double bass
Jimmy Cobb, drums