Cleo Henry is the pseudonym Miles Davis used to credit the composition Boplicity, drawn from the maiden name of his mother, Cleota Mae Henry. The tune was composed for the 1949 Birth of the Cool nonet sessions and released by Capitol Records in 1957. While credited to Cleo Henry, the piece is widely attributed to arranger and composer Gil Evans, who shaped its distinctive cool jazz voicings for the nonet's unusual instrumentation of trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba, alto and baritone saxophones, piano, bass, and drums. Boplicity, featured on AllSolos, became one of the defining recordings of the cool jazz movement, prized for its light, vibratoless tonality, subtle rhythmic feel, and legato phrasing. No other compositions are attributed to the Cleo Henry pseudonym.
