Miles Davis – Moon Dreams
I figure by now everyone is tired of holiday music, so I decided I wouldn’t put you all through more of that. Today I’m featuring a cozy song (to stay in and drink hot cocoa on this snowy day, especially for those who are experiencing the Denver weather), without any holiday sentiment to it.
“Moon Dreams” comes from Miles Davis’s 1957 release The Birth of the Cool – a compilation of 78rpm singles from 1949-1959 – the record that started the West Coast sound in jazz, otherwise known as cool jazz, the more orchestrated, often slower, less showy reaction to the bebop scene. The Birth of the Cool features Miles Davis’s nonet, which consisted of quite a few big names in post-bop, like pianist John Lewis, trombonist J.J. Johnson, French hornist Gunther Schuller, saxophonists Lee Konitz and Gerry Mulligan, and bebop legend Max Roach on drums. However, one of the most important forces in these sessions played no instruments on the recordings: composer/arranger Gil Evans. Evans contributed arrangements for much of the album, including the arrangement for the Chummy MacGregor and Johnny Mercer composition “Moon Dreams.”
Listen to Evans’s tasteful, innovative arrangement on this beautiful ballad. The strong low brass creates full, balanced chords to back up the relaxed phrasing in the melodic instruments. The classical influence is evident and helped develop the kind of jazz that would lead to Third Stream music. Enjoy these warm harmonies as you avoid snow however you can today.
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