"Cool Blues" was released as part of the Charlie Parker on Dial: The Complete Sessions, four disc box set. It was recorded during Parker's tenure with Dial Records between March 28, 1946, and December 17, 1947. The box set, released by the English label Spotlite Records, assembled into a single package the multi-volume compilation albums the label had released by Spotlite on vinyl in the 1970s under the series title Charlie Parker on Dial. The box set has been critically well received. The Blackwell Guide to Recorded Jazz describes the Spotlite box set as "an essential aid in appreciating the scope of Parker's invention from take to take", concluding that "his brilliant body of work is indispensable". The Guardian also describes the recordings as "essential". The UK publication selected the Spotlite box set to represent Parker in its 2007 series on "1000 albums to hear before you die", noting that "timeless themes, inspired improvising and radical vision make these epochal episodes in modern music"
