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Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1965 Miles Davis had a hip operation, suffered from Sickle Cell Anaemia and his mother died--so it is perhaps remarkable that the album he released following those dramas was called Miles Smiles. It was the second album (the first was ESP) by his second great quintet, which aside from the man himself on trumpet had the line-up of Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, Ron Carter on bass, Tony Williams on drums and a young musician by the name of Herbie Hancock on piano. This quintet released four stunning studio albums on Columbia in the late 1960s (the other two are Sorcerer and Nefertiti), which are all worth getting. But Miles Smiles is the best. Using largely Shorter's compositions and powered by Williams's pounding drumming, Miles mixed the abstract with the blues. Supported by the brilliance of one of jazz's finest bass players, not to mention one of jazz's piano icons, Miles Smiles simmers, broods and explodes. It is one of his last before "going electric" and incorporating rock, which challenges the listener without totally forgetting structure unlike some of the avant-garde of the time. The result is not only one of his, but one of jazz's finest ever albums. --Phil Brett
CD Description
Miles Davis' restless curiosity would never allow him to look back, and as a result, he sought out new blood and fresh challenges over the course of six decades of innovation. When modernists such as Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor and John Coltrane began stretching the parameters of form and improvisation in the early '60s, Davis was leery, even hostile at first.
But as the saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, join'em--and by 1964 Miles had assembled his own dream team of innovative young turks, who began to vivisect the entire Davis book, before moving confidently into uncharted waters. MILES SMILES marks a sea change in which the Miles Davis Quintet really begins to stretch out and confront the avant-gardewith a modern thrust of their own--resulting in one of the greatest jazz recordings of all time.
Performances such as "Orbits" and "Ginger Bread Boy" redefine all notions of swing, as Ron Carter and Tony Williams treat the beat in a free-flowing manner, superimposing new chords and metres over afulminating 4/4 pulse. Pianist Hancock veers away from traditional block chord accompaniments, often providing spare polytonal counterpoint or laying out altogether. Tenor saxophonist Shorter's harmonic and melodic abandon inspire Davis toexplore bold new vocal nuances in his phrasing, even as hisclassic compositions--such as "Footprints"--alter the harmonic language of jazz forever. And from the joyous hyper-funkof "Freedom Jazz Dance" to the serene misterioso of the trumpeter's remarkable ballad "Circles", MILES SMILES defines anew performance standard for collective improvisation.
But as the saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, join'em--and by 1964 Miles had assembled his own dream team of innovative young turks, who began to vivisect the entire Davis book, before moving confidently into uncharted waters. MILES SMILES marks a sea change in which the Miles Davis Quintet really begins to stretch out and confront the avant-gardewith a modern thrust of their own--resulting in one of the greatest jazz recordings of all time.
Performances such as "Orbits" and "Ginger Bread Boy" redefine all notions of swing, as Ron Carter and Tony Williams treat the beat in a free-flowing manner, superimposing new chords and metres over afulminating 4/4 pulse. Pianist Hancock veers away from traditional block chord accompaniments, often providing spare polytonal counterpoint or laying out altogether. Tenor saxophonist Shorter's harmonic and melodic abandon inspire Davis toexplore bold new vocal nuances in his phrasing, even as hisclassic compositions--such as "Footprints"--alter the harmonic language of jazz forever. And from the joyous hyper-funkof "Freedom Jazz Dance" to the serene misterioso of the trumpeter's remarkable ballad "Circles", MILES SMILES defines anew performance standard for collective improvisation.
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