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45 of 47 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
In 1967 Miles Davis recorded what was to be the last album before venturing into his electric period. Soon he would be using the Fender Rhodes and the Fender Bass, so it could be seen as his last truly acoustic album. Many jazz purists see Miles Smiles as his last true jazz album because of the above. However beneath the superficial details, it can also be seen as rhythmically one of the trumpeters most explorative works. One has only to listen to Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams and Ron Carter work on the multi-tempo track Footprints to hear this. There are so many subtle rhythmical implications within this piece that it leaves me feeling this was my favourite Miles rhythm section, as much as I love Miles fifties Columbia band. Being a rhythm section player myself, I can constantly find enjoyment and inspiration within this track alone.
Miles himself plays out of his skin throughout and stretches out in a manner far different than what I have heard previously or since. Whilst never being known as the most technically dazzling of trumpeters, he produces some absolutely mind-boggling solos, which leaves me wondering if some critics sat down and listened to this album instead of panning his technically weaker work with Parker, they might give him more credit than he's been allowed for. Tone wise it's generally conceded that Miles was beautiful and Miles Smiles is no exception. Circle showcases some of his most intimate and pleasant moments.
The writing is mostly Wayne Shorter's. Wayne, one of Jazz's most gifted writers never allows the arrangements to inhibit the soloists. In fact it inspires them to greater heights, his own playing included.
If I was to name my top five jazz albums of the sixties, I would like to think this would be in there.
... Read more ›10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Toby Carr
Format:Audio CD
I'm a massive Miles fan and i think this ranks right up there with his best albums. Every member of this hugely important quintet plays there ass off on this album creating music which shows how free and abstract this style of jazz can get while still being immediately and viscerally attractive.
Buy this album!.
Buy this album!.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Along with E.S.P. this is one of the best jazz records ever and I think the best one the quintet recorded.
The empathy between Miles,Shorter,Hancock,Carter and Williams is beyond belief!
If you like your jazz on the deep and inventive side you will love this.
The empathy between Miles,Shorter,Hancock,Carter and Williams is beyond belief!
If you like your jazz on the deep and inventive side you will love this.
By Warren
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Miles Smiles" is one of Mr Davis truly great albums. All the boys are on fire. This is essential for all jazz fans.
By Wayne M.
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Whilst being a jazz fan and love Kind of Blue, I've not fully explored the repertoire of Miles Davis. A drummer friend of mine was lamenting the fact he had to learn the drum part of Footprints. It's become a 'bog standard' standard, in that it's a tune that will come up in jam nights, like Blue Bossa etc. So I thought, this part couldn't be anything spectacular - boy was I wrong! The switching of time feels is exemplary, an incredible band that have all become legends in their own right.
There are other reviews more articulate and more knowledgeable about this quintet than I, but I will put my recommendation to anyone who will read this to buy it and enjoy it!!
Superb compositions and I feel some of Mile's best playing, still thoughtful and careful note choices as he was famed for, but there's an added dose of virtuosity that leaps out.
A great album, arguably his best quintet line up ever.
There are other reviews more articulate and more knowledgeable about this quintet than I, but I will put my recommendation to anyone who will read this to buy it and enjoy it!!
Superb compositions and I feel some of Mile's best playing, still thoughtful and careful note choices as he was famed for, but there's an added dose of virtuosity that leaps out.
A great album, arguably his best quintet line up ever.
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This minor masterpiece is the second album from Miles' great second quintet: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter (composer of many of the tracks on `Smiles'), Ron Carter and the very young and very talented drummer Tony Williams, only 17 at the time he started working with Miles and 19 when this album was recorded.
Following the quintet's debut `ESP' in January 1965, `Miles Smiles' was recorded in one take in 1966 with a spontaneity and energy born from virtuoso musicians who love playing together and exploring new ground. The cutting-edge music from this period in Miles' career remains acoustic but marks the transition between the melodic `modal' jazz from the classic KoB era with the longer free-form electronic pieces of `In a Silent Way' and `Bitches Brew' which defined the birth of `fusion' at the end of the 1960s.
`Smiles' has no weak tracks or fillers; it's deep, absorbing, clever and enjoyable to listen to. It's varied too - far more varied in style, for example, than the later epic `Bitches Brew' where the tracks all sound similar in tone (though equally brilliant). Listen to `Circle' on a lazy afternoon, or late at night to set the mood; or to Tony Williams' mastery of complex rhythms as he holds together `Freedom Jazz Dance'.
The only caution to the listener new to Miles' impressive body of work might be that this is not the best place to start. Try `Kind of Blue' first, then some of the early work, and maybe the Gil Evans collaborations; the ground-breaking music of `ESP' and `Smiles' will then become more accessible.
To the untutored ear some of the numbers on `Smiles' can sound formless, difficult, lacking in melody.... Read more ›
Following the quintet's debut `ESP' in January 1965, `Miles Smiles' was recorded in one take in 1966 with a spontaneity and energy born from virtuoso musicians who love playing together and exploring new ground. The cutting-edge music from this period in Miles' career remains acoustic but marks the transition between the melodic `modal' jazz from the classic KoB era with the longer free-form electronic pieces of `In a Silent Way' and `Bitches Brew' which defined the birth of `fusion' at the end of the 1960s.
`Smiles' has no weak tracks or fillers; it's deep, absorbing, clever and enjoyable to listen to. It's varied too - far more varied in style, for example, than the later epic `Bitches Brew' where the tracks all sound similar in tone (though equally brilliant). Listen to `Circle' on a lazy afternoon, or late at night to set the mood; or to Tony Williams' mastery of complex rhythms as he holds together `Freedom Jazz Dance'.
The only caution to the listener new to Miles' impressive body of work might be that this is not the best place to start. Try `Kind of Blue' first, then some of the early work, and maybe the Gil Evans collaborations; the ground-breaking music of `ESP' and `Smiles' will then become more accessible.
To the untutored ear some of the numbers on `Smiles' can sound formless, difficult, lacking in melody.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Miles' sophisticated masterpiece
Although widely acknowledged by many as the greatest small group of all time in the history of jazz, it is still surprising just how good this collection of single takes by Miles'... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Ian Thumwood
5.0 out of 5 stars
Davis' Classic 60s Quintet
Recorded in October 1966, Miles Smiles features the second incarnation of the Miles Davis Quintet, which, in addition to Davis, featured Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Herbie Hancock... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Keith M
5.0 out of 5 stars
miles davis's masterpiece
miles smiles is an excellent album from the legendary jazz trumpeter miles davis and is one of my favorites. Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2007 by for whom the bell tolls
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