Complete In a Silent Way Sessions
Recorded and released in 1969,In a Silent Waywas one of Miles Davis's most mysterious and elusive efforts. That was not only because the album, boasting one long track on each side, was so austerely understated, but also because it stood apart from the music that preceded it, the music the trumpeter was performing in concert, and the revolution that followed--a.k.a.Bitches Brew. Making use of multiple keyboardists--Herbie HancockandChick Coreaon electric piano andJoe Zawinulon organ--the trumpeter multiplies tones and melody lines and complicates textures. His mold-breaking band, also includingWayne Shorteron soprano saxophone,Tony Williamson drums, andJohn McLaughlinon guitar, dips into rock and R&B;, gospel and classical, electronics and creative editing.The three-disc, misleadingly titledComplete In a Silent Way Sessionsgathers a brace of material recorded during the months leading up to the making of the title classic, when Davis was making the transition from his great acoustic quintet (including Hancock, Shorter, and Williams) to more populous electric units, as well as formalizing his involvement in rock. It includes two songs fromFilles de Kilimanjarothat were rudely left off theMiles Davis Quintet 1965-68box set because they were performed not by the classic quintet but with new members Corea andDave Holland. Strong subsequent efforts by the revised quintet not released until years later on odds and ends collections. You may drift off while listening to bonus "footage," including rehearsals forSilent Way, but two previously unreleased tunes command attention: the easy and sprawling 27-minute construct, "The Ghetto Walk," which reflects Miles's interest in Jimi Hendrix and James Brown, and "Early Minor," a Zawinul composition warmed by a Spanish sunrise. The extensive notes are informative, and the packaging, as always with the ongoing Davis reissue series, is classy.--Lloyd Sachs