Miles Davis - Miles in the Sky

Released in 1968

As jazz developed through its long history, from earliest roots in New Orleans to widespread popularity during the swing era, maturing into a more exalted, less mainstream “art” music, the music’s audience divided again and again, older fans resisting the coming of the new. To this day, none of these historic splits remains as controversial—the wound still fresh—as when jazz went “electric” in the late 1960s, when amplified gear appeared alongside acoustic instruments, when the music got loud, borrowing the rhythms of funk and the dynamics of rock.

Miles In The Sky was Miles’ first foray into this brave new world—recorded in January and May of 1968—four lengthy tunes that began to explore the use of electric piano and electric bass (on the track “Stuff”) and Miles expanded his own arsenal, playing the somewhat more blaring cornet on half the album (his own tunes “Stuff” and “Country Son”). Significantly, Miles invited a new instrument into the mix: George Benson playing the defining riff on electric guitar on Shorter’s “Paraphernalia.” It was the start of a romance that would intensify through the rest of Miles’ career—plugged-in guitarists becoming a standard element on his recordings and a part of his stage shows.

Tony Williams' percussion, central to every composition here, transpires before your eyes. Herbie Hancock's piano hovers and fades with sublime purity. And George Benson, who sits on "Paraphernalia," blows the equivalent of smoke rings with his bluesy guitar, which here takes on brilliant tonality and definition. The acoustic material that occupies the second half of the record is equally transparent and full-bodied.

Miles in the Sky can finally be perceived as belonging to the same upper echelon as Davis' ubiquitously acclaimed Nefertiti and Filles de Kilimanjaro--the albums that precede and follow, respectively, this watershed title. Commonly branded a "transitional" work, Miles in the Sky showcases Davis already at ease with electric instruments and eager to venture into uncharted territories. Doubling as organized jams and bridges between jazz and rock, both the rhythmically challenging "Stuff" and frisky "Paraphernalia" glancing toward the future while keeping solid footing in the past.

Similarly, so do "Country Boy" and "Black Comedy." In his original review for jazz authority DownBeat, Larry Kart observes: "Davis takes material from his earlier days and darkens its emotional tone. His opening phrase on ‘Country Boy' recalls a fragment from his "Summertime" solo on the Porgy and Bess album, but here it is delivered with a vehemence that rejects the poignancy of the earlier performance. Even on ‘Black Comedy,' his most straightahead solo here, the orderly pattern of the past is displaced and fragmented."

Flavored with humor, bossa nova, country, and even ballroom phrases, the compositions on Miles in the Sky explodes with creativity, purpose, and color.
 

CD contains 2 bonus alternate takes.