In the '50s, the party line among
New York jazz critics was that
hard bop was the "true faith" and that
cool jazz was lightweight and unemotional. But
Miles Davis knew better. The trumpeter (whose
Birth of the Cool sessions of 1949-1950 proved to be incredibly influential) was smart enough to realize that
cool jazz and
hard bop were equally valid parts of the house that
Charlie Parker built, and he had no problem working with cool jazzmen one minute and hard boppers the next. Recorded for
Charles Mingus'
Debut label in 1955,
Blue Moods is an excellent example of
cool jazz. However, not all of the musicians who join
Davis on this album were full-time members of
jazz's cool school. Although vibist
Teddy Charles was cool-oriented,
Mingus (upright bass) and
Elvin Jones (drums) were never considered cool players -- and the lyrical trombonist
Britt Woodman was, in the '50s, best known for his association with
Duke Ellington. Nonetheless, the things that characterized
cool jazz -- subtlety, restraint, and understatement -- characterize
Blue Moods.
Mingus and
Jones were certainly capable of being forceful and aggressive, but you won't hear them being intense on this disc; a very laid-back, gently introspective approach prevails on interpretations of
"Easy Living," "Alone Together," "Nature Boy," and
"There's No You." Clocking in at 27 minutes,
Blue Moods is quite skimpy by most standards -- unfortunately,
Fantasy didn't have any alternate takes to add. But even so,
Blue Moods offers considerable rewards to those who have a taste for '50s
cool jazz. ~ Alex Henderson