University of Vermont Jazz Studies faculty will perform Miles Davis’ seminal work of jazz modernism, Birth of the Cool, on Thursday, Sept. 27, at 7:30 p.m. in the UVM Recital Hall. The concert, which reprises a critically acclaimed performance the group gave at the 2012 Discover Jazz Festival, is free and open to the public.   

Composed in 1949 and 1950 and released seven years later, Birth of the Cool was one of the most influential albums in jazz history and is widely credited with launching the cool jazz movement. It features unusual instrumentation – French horn, baritone horn and tuba, as well as saxophones, trumpet, trombone and rhythm section – slow tempos, rich harmonies influenced by the classical Impressionist movement and blended instrumental voices.

“The music sounds more like that of a new Maurice Ravel than it does like jazz,” wrote The New Yorker’s jazz critic after the album’s release.  

While Birth of the Cool has classical influences, Jazz Studies director Alex Stewart says, it is also a jazz composition. “One of the things that’s so beautiful about the performance on the album is the balance that’s achieved between the composed sections and the improvisation,” he says. “We’ve very much tried to preserve that balance in our approach to the music.”  

In the UVM performance, trumpeter Ray Vega, alto saxophonist Brian McCarthy and baritone saxophonist Stewart will play the parts made famous by Miles Davis, Lee Konitz and Gerry Mulligan on the album. Other performers include Yutaka Kono, tuba; Rick Davies, trombone; Joy Worland, French horn; Tom Cleary, piano; John Rivers, bass; and Geza Carr, drums.