Cool Jazz 3
Both Davis and Evans acknowledged that the Thornhill band was a significant inspiration for the nonet project. This group had its roots in 1948 when Evans began to discuss the idea of forming a smaller ensemble that could explore and expand the sonic possibilities of the Thornhill band. Musician/arrangers, including Gerry Mulligan, John Lewis, John Carisi, George Russell, and Johnny Mandel, participated in these discussions. This circle decided to base the ensemble's instrumentation on several instrument families' treble and bass pairings. These pairings included trumpet and trombone, French horn and tuba, alto and baritone saxophones, and a rhythm section of piano, bass, and drums. The group became a reality when Miles Davis joined their discussions and secured performances at the Royal Roost club in New York. Then, the arranger Pete Rugolo, a musical director at Capitol Records, soon signed the group to a recording contract.
The group recorded twelve sides. Unfortunately, Capitol released only a small number of these recordings, and they experienced poor initial sales. Although by early 1950, the ensemble had essentially disbanded, many of its members went on to build on this new jazz aesthetic, soon characterized as "cool jazz." In 1954 Capitol included eight of the twelve nonet sides on their ten-inch album, Classics in Jazz: Miles Davis. In 1956 the French critic André Hodeir notably identified the nonet's recordings of "Israel" and "Boplicity" as the "two incontestable masterpieces" of cool jazz. Here is a video of the "Boplicity" featuring Davis with the conductor Quincy Jones.
Miles Davis & Quincy Jones: Boplicity (Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux) [ 00:00-00:00 ]
In 1957, Capitol reissued all twelve nonet recordings on the LP, or Long Play, Birth of the Cool, which became one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time. The later Davis/Evans collaborations on the Columbia albums Miles Ahead (1957), Porgy and Bess (1959), and Sketches of Spain (1960) all represent vital extensions of the nonet's cool-styled idiom, and each album likewise represents significant landmarks in the commercial popularity of jazz.
Gerry Mulligan's (1927-1996) post-nonet work was equally central to 1950s cool jazz. After briefly founding his similarly styled "tentette" in 1951, Mulligan relocated to Los Angeles and found himself at the heart of an emerging West Coast jazz scene primarily defined by this new cool jazz sound. In 1952, Mulligan formed his celebrated "pianoless quartet," an ensemble that featured his baritone saxophone, Chet Baker's trumpet, Bob Whitlock's bass, and Chico Hamilton's drums. Here is Mulligan's tentette in 1952 performing "Walking Shoes" .
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
He was a famous trumpet man from out Chicago way
He had a boogie style that no one else could play
He was the top man at his craft
But then his number came up and he was gone with the draft
He's in the army now, a blowin' reveille
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B
Heebie Jeebies
Say, I've got the Heebies
I mean the Jeebies
Talking about
The dance, the Heebie Jeebies
Do, because they're boys
Because it pleases me to be joy