Track Listing

1. Stuff
2. Paraphernalia
3. Black Comedy
4. Country Son
5. Black Comedy [Alternate Take][*]
6. Country Son [Alternate Take][*]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25821 in Music
• Brand: Davis
• Released on: 2008-02-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Customer Reviews

Baby steps
Miles in the Sky was the fifth studio album by Miles Davis's 2nd great quintet. For most listeners, it was the first taste of the trumpeter's experiments in fusing jazz with popular music: one of the tunes features George Benson's electric guitar, another has Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter on electric piano and electric bass, and two of the tunes use funky boogaloo rhythms. (Some earlier recordings with electric instruments remained in the can until the late 70s.) Aside from changes in instrumentation and rhythm, Miles resumed composing the bulk of the music. He also led the group away from exploratory but self-contained performances like "Masqualero" and "Footprints" to longer open-ended jams. At the same time, Miles refused to offer any concessions on the group's adventurous slant -- this album has plenty of intense solos by both him and Wayne as well as Tony Williams's unpredictable (and loud) drumming.

The two more conventional tunes on this album are "Black Comedy" and "Paraphernalia". The former is a rhythmic tongue-twister composed by Tony Williams, and could have easily fit in on Nefertiti or Sorcerer. "Paraphernalia" (a Shorter tune) has a briskly swinging groove, and while the solos are typically adventurous the rhythmic "space" of earlier albums is mostly gone. Benson's solo and comping on this tune are alright, though he sounds a little lost at times.

"Country Son" isn't really a tune; it just cycles episodically through three different rhythmic styles -- swinging, ballad, boogaloo -- during the solos, looking ahead to compositions like "[...]" and "It's About That Time". It has some terrific funky playing by Herbie. "Stuff" is a funky boogaloo strut, with Herbie and Ron laying down the groove emphatically on their electric instruments while Tony tries to break free.

For whatever reason, I don't like this album as much as the other ones recorded by the group. The performances are exciting (with this group, how could they not be?), but the music isn't as compelling as either the quintet's earlier albums or Davis's later visionary experiments with fusion. The next and final quintet album, Filles de Kilimanjaro, would integrate the ideas on this album and execute them much more effectively.

[This review is based on the 1998 reissue, which had excellent sound and an identical tracklist.]

Miles Goes Up From The Skies
Miles found himself in 1968 in a very new world of music. Psychedelic sounds were everywhere and different sorts of music were bleeding together into all kinds of combinations and ending up becoming a whole new form.Sly & The Family Stone and Hendrix were popularizing it and on one of his later album with his classic quintet Miles very obviously had his ears all the way open. On the majority of this album Miles,a musician who had been edging towards a kind of avante garde sound on his previous few albums such as Miles Smiles and now a new kind of rhythm was coming into the equation. From "Paraphernalia" to "Black Comedy" onto "Country Son",even with the presence of George Benson,Miles was putting everything happening musically here into the context of rhythm. Believe it or not this was part of the beginning of the jazz-funk movement of the 70's. Recently a discussion I had with my good friend from Oakland (who I realize I name drop a lot in these reviews) bought up the point that much of jazz even at this point was not as on the stop as it seemed;that there was a deeper understanding among jazz musicians who were able to translate their musical traditions from a basic theme into something very original. The themes here do seem to be burried somewhat if your not listening close enough.But the truth is it's because their all based in some form of communal rhythm:Waynes sax,Ron's bass and Tony?Well let's just say that his drumming on everything here is far heavier-not necessarily loud but full of a weighty bottom that stands as more then steady support for Miles' playing,itself usually associated with "tugging at you a little softer" by his own description. The tune that pulls everything together here is the opener "Stuff". It opens it all up-EVERYTHING Miles would do on his breakthrough electric albums such as Bitches Brew and even to some extent On the Corner begins here;Herbie's newly found electric piano soloing,the bass leading the whole way from the bottom up and.......a rhythm that comes in and around the psychedelic stew to what is possibly Miles' first released tune in the funk genre,then a fairly new genre to most people. Even though not psychedelic music in the traditional sense of the word,everything from the trippy album cover all the way down to the rhythms and instrumentation all bleeding together find the influence firmly in place. This is the kind of jazz and funk I can imagine having a lot of appeal to people who usually listened to things like Country Joe & The Fish or even the Grateful Dead. And even for them Miles and the kind of rooted,complex funky music his quintet were making on albums like this will hopefully bring them into a good place to begin grooving to rhythms that were at once communcal,improvisations AND jamming!

"THE BIRTH & EPICENTER OF JAZZ-ROCK FUSION"
This is as all of Miles recordings a true work of musical art. This is in fact the very formation of and the epicenter of jazz-rock fusion. Miles would remain in this groove for the rest of his career. Experimentation with sounds and colors, layers of chromatic tones, cycles and funky grooves. Never predictable and always on the fringes of the cuff, Miles never stops short of an amazing audio adventure (in space if you will). With the stellar lineup of Mr. Davis, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock and George Benson (contributing on 1 track) it is a huge piece of jazz-rock history and a must for any fan of Miles or this genre of music. Do yourself a favor and check it out today. Along with this recording you may also want to check out obviously "Bitch's Brew", "E.S.P.", "Nefertiti" and "Filles De Kilimanjaro". All masterpieces and should be in any jazz collection.