Name: Birth of the Cool: Live
Start: 2025-02-01T20:00:00+00:00
Location: 4 Coburg Road, N22 6UJ London, United Kingdom

Nine of Hertfordshire's finest musicians present an evening of jazz heritage at Karamel, Birth of the Cool: Live. Join us on Saturday 1st February to hear this seminal and rarely performed music, originally recorded by trumpeter Miles Davis and his jazz nonet.
Birth of the Cool is a compilation album of music recorded in the formative part of Davis' career, which for many represents a watershed moment in post-war music and in the history of jazz. This is now known as The Birth of the Cool, with the music that this historic nine piece group created in 1949 and 1950. The group had a number of future jazz heavyweights, including: Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, Max Roach, John Lewis, the arranger Gil Evans, and of course band leader, Miles Davis.
Unlike a big band or a small jazz group, the unconventional line up of instruments - saxophones, trumpet, french horn/flugel, trombone, tuba, and rhythm section - is specifically selected for the warmth of their voices and the depth of timbre that they create together. This music, celebrated as part of a one-off gig at Karamel N22, is truly unique, combining bebop with classical techniques, polyphony, and the voices of a rich ensemble. Today these tunes sound as fresh as ever and offer a very rare opportunity to hear this music live.
For their performance at Karamel, arrangements have been carefully collated for the Hertfordshire-based nonet by musical director, Tom Harker, with later collaborations between Miles Davis and Gil Evans also being showcased in adaptations from the albums "Porgy & Bess" and "Miles Ahead". Listeners can expect to hear further exploration of the jazz nonet repertoire in a contrasting context, with additional arrangements by Steve Fishwick, McCoy Tyner, and Abdullah Ibrahim, dotted throughout the sets.
Line-up: Alto saxophone - Andrew Linham;
Baritone saxophone - Nic Newling;
Trumpet/Flugelhorn - Tom Harker;
Trumpet/Flugelhorn - Matt Ward;
Trombone - Joe Harker;
Tuba - Lee Tsarmaklis;
Piano - Ben Harker;
Double Bass - Debs Spanton;
Drums - Dan Wild.
Doors open 7pm. Music starts at 8pm.