This is a musical analysis of the pivotal Miles Davis Orchestra recordings of 1948-1950, including the radio broadcasts from the Royal Roost (found on The Complete Birth of the Cool from Capital Records) that is aimed at young musicians (college students primarily). The author identifies stylistic precedents, summarizes the attributes of cool jazz, and discusses the contributions of individual musicians and arrangers. The discussion of the music is organized by arranger: Gil Evans, Gerry Mulligan, John Lewis, and John Carisi. The accompanying CD contains 18 selections discussed in the text, but the author still urges the reader to acquire the above mentioned Capital Records disc in order to follow along with all of the music discussed. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)