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Recorded years before its release, "Birth of the Cool" documents Miles Davis's first real outings as a bandleader, and the resulting invention of what would subsequently be known as cool jazz. Having recently worked a sideman for the likes of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie when these recordings were made in 1949-50, Davis takes the jumping rhythm of bebop (bebop legend Max Roach is here as a drummer, after all) and marries it with his own, emotionally detached persona, as exemplified through the laid-back, tasteful playing which would become his signature style. Despite his now-familiar approach to the trumpet, this album sounds unlike any other Davis LP, primarily because the master himself was already exploring new forms of music by the time of its release. Perhaps the best part of these sessions is that Miles was surrounded by like-minded musicians who would go onto to form the nucleus of the West Coast jazz scene, and thus his nonet plays with a unity that sounds like a big band playing modern jazz meant for small combos.