Miles In The Sky

[Durium]

MILES IN THE SKY

MILES DAVIS QUINTET

An interesting and important album to be situated in between the more traditional ( what's in a name ) Miles Davis releases and his experimental music from the 1970s and 1980s.

A release to enjoy as a good bottle of wine.

Miles In The Sky

Keep swinging

Durium

[Guy Berger]

It's a very good album but my least favorite of the 2nd quintet recordings. I think Miles would "figure things out" on Filles de Kilimanjaro.

Guy

[JSngry]

By far and away, imo, the most "cerebeal", inward-focused music Miles ever made. The cover says it all, as does the back cover photo.

I still enjoy listening to it very much, but let's face it, sometimes it's just plain weird.

Interesting, though, that part of "Country Son" would later reappear in "Ssshhh/Peaceful" on In A Silent Way".

Edited December 24, 2006 by JSngry

[michel1969]

Now that we know the whole electric Miles history, we can consider "Miles in the Sky" closer to " Filles de Way" than to "In a Silent" : "Miles in the Sky" is typically a "transition" album with Miles searching for a new formula (electric guitar sounds on Paraphernalia, for example, that you will found in "Silent" and "Bitches")), while being somewhat still rooted in "second quintet". Anyway, is the "transition" concept of any value, with such a musician like Miles. EVERY record is a moment, a part of the search. Transition is just an historical point of view. Miles in the sky is the "beginning of something"....

Edited December 24, 2006 by Michel

[Larry Kart]

I reviewed "Miles In the Sky" for Down Beat when it came out (****1/2, as I recall).

[shrugs]

didn't Albertson write the liners?

[Guest youmustbe]

The only problem I had with the record is that by the time it came out, Miles was already doing something else live.

[Rosco]

The only problem I had with the record is that by the time it came out, Miles was already doing something else live.

When was that ever not the case?

[tonym]

I love this album. Possibly because it was the first disc I bought from his 'second' quintet so maybe that's stuck with me. Everything was so fresh to my ears then. I remember listening to the album back to back for weeks. On some long bike rides not long after, I would be able to 'sing' the solos back to myself.

[Big Al]

I love this album. Possibly because it was the first disc I bought from his 'second' quintet so maybe that's stuck with me. Everything was so fresh to my ears then.

Same here.

[jazzbo]

I love the alternate "Country" on the box set.

[sal]

Am I the only one who thinks "Paraphernalia" is one of the best performances of a Wayne Shorter tune by the Quintet?

[jazzhound]

Am I the only one who thinks "Paraphernalia" is one of the best performances of a Wayne Shorter tune by the Quintet?

No. this is the quintets best record. period.

[.:.impossible]

Big fan.

[Shawn]

I enjoy this album, but it's probably my least favorite of the second quintet dates. Not really sure why, probably because I had already had fallen in love with the earlier albums...plus I was already a fan of Bitches Brew, In A Silent Way, etc...which made this album less of an "event".

[bolivarblues]

Thanks for mentioning this record; I'm going to give it another listen here in a few minutes. Like a few others here, it's one of my least favorite records of the second quintet, but that's not to belittle its greatness, at all; the least of their records still shames the best of most others. But being somewhat transitional in nature, I tend to favor Miles Smiles, Sorcerer and Nefertiti on one end, and In a Silent Way on the other. So it gets lost in the shuffle a bit, so I'm going to give it a fresh spin and see how it goes.

[sal]

The "strangeness" of the music I think tends to overshadow how "on" the quintet was on this date. Of course, they played amazingly on every recording, but there's a ferocity on "Miles in the Sky" that sets it apart.

[CJ Shearn]

I agree.

[Guy Berger]

I think it's interesting that "Paraphernalia" swings in a more traditional/conventional way than much of this group's regular material -- perhaps that's due to George Benson's presence. Live versions were much more free.

Guy

[bolivarblues]

After giving it another go, it seems to me that Williams sounds a bit more subdued, if there's such a thing as far as he goes. Maybe "subdued" isn't the proper word, but there seems to be less of his push and pull he does with the tempo, as in "Eighty-One," where at 3:15 he's playing accented 1/16th notes on his ride cymbal, then around 3:29 switches up with long, syncopated notes that seem to temporarily suspend the meter, back to the 1/16ths, then the long notes, then sending the groove skipping into a shuffle beat around 3:49. Contrast that with "Paraphranellia" where his series of Blakey-esque press rolls seem to demarcate various sections of the song; the bits in between those rolls aren't quite as phrenetic as usual, and the result is that the band has more space to work with, hence the gradual progression towards In A Silent Way. As Williams goes, so goes the quintet, and it seems that his evolving style is leading the group towards more open sonic landscapes and away from the more frenzied, hyper-bop of the previous three records. Or, in classic chicken/egg fashion, was Williams merely responding to Miles' directions? Perhaps a bit of both.

Disclaimer: I am not a drummer, so if there are any drummers out there, please forgive me if my terminology isn't exactly right. I think it's properly conveying what I hear, but then again, there's a chance I could be wrong. It's happened before.