Miles Davis - In A Silent Way (1969)

I would call this a groundbreaking album, but every time an album was issued by Miles, it was already understood that it would be groundbreaking. Did Miles invent fusion music here? Could be. Music writers/critics/historians say this is the first of Davis' fusion recordings, while marking the beginning of his electric period. Talk about an all-star cast: Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Josef Zawinul, John McLaughlin, and on and on. Most jazz should swing, this just grooves. All the critics give this 5 out of 5 stars and it's well-deserved because it is a timeless masterpiece. I recommend listening to this late at night. A lot has been written about this album, I encourage you to go out and read as much as you can about it.

original liner notes

In A Silent Way or Kind Of Blue? If you had to get only one jazz album, I'd say get Kind Of Blue, but go ahead and buy In A Silent Way while you're at it.

Update: In 2017, it was ranked at #9 on Pitchfork's list of the 200 Best Albums of the 1960s.

Reviews/ratings:

• CashBox: "gem-like brilliance and perfection"
• Billboard: "long pieces full of changing moods and tempos"
• Stereo Review: "a truly indispensable recording"
• DownBeat (★★★½): "the frequency of significant musical events on this album is rather low"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #134
• Billboard R&B: #40
• Billboard Jazz: #3

Tracks: Just two tracks. The first side of the LP is Shhh/Peaceful and the flip side is In A Silent Way/It's About That Time. If CDs had been around back in '69, Miles might have been tempted to produce one long track. In any case, it's all good. I usually find myself preferring the second track, particularly when the awesome bass line kicks in around the 8:20 mark.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Discovering this for the first time about 30 years after it was released and being mad at myself for not listening to this before. This music was also used well in the 2000 film Finding Forrester.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Panthalassa: The Remixes (1999)
This Is Jazz, Vol. 8: Miles Davis Acoustic (1996)
Live Around The World (1996)
Music from Siesta (1987)
Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall (1961)
Sketches of Spain (1960)
Milestones (1958)