The title of this 1969 Miles Davis album, In A Silent Way is, could not be more apt. Not only is the music silent, but also pretty close to minimalism. Everyone tends to hold back, making the music to take the more atmospheric direction, rather than show off their chops. Which lends to mesmerizing keyboard (organ and electric pianos) textures, metronomic drum grooves from Tony Williams and some of the most subdued yet beautiful guitar playing by John McLaughlin. Even the horns are pretty laid back on this one. "Shhh Peaceful" is a bona fide one chord trance-like number with that famous hi-hat pattern over which everyone lays down colorful palettes of sound. The atmospheric music bookending "In a Silent Way / It's About That Time" is as beautiful as jazz fusion ever gets, with its shimmering guitar bed and the tranquil flow of soprano sax and trumpet melodies. The middle of the track is a dark jam where the band builds tension and they burst out to the closest thing resembling a full blown jazz rock attack just for a while, before things wind down again. Perhaps not the first Fusion album ever, but still an impressive outing from Miles Davis.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
The title of this 1969 Miles Davis album, In A Silent Way is, could not be more apt. Not only is the music silent, but also pretty close to minimalism. Everyone tends to hold back, making the music to take the more atmospheric direction, rather than show off their chops. Which lends to mesmerizing keyboard (organ and electric pianos) textures, metronomic drum grooves from Tony Williams and some of the most subdued yet beautiful guitar playing by John McLaughlin. Even the horns are pretty laid back on this one. "Shhh Peaceful" is a bona fide one chord trance-like number with that famous hi-hat pattern over which everyone lays down colorful palettes of sound. The atmospheric music bookending "In a Silent Way / It's About That Time" is as beautiful as jazz fusion ever gets, with its shimmering guitar bed and the tranquil flow of soprano sax and trumpet melodies. The middle of the track is a dark jam where the band builds tension and they burst out to the closest thing resembling a full blown jazz rock attack just for a while, before things wind down again. Perhaps not the first Fusion album ever, but still an impressive outing from Miles Davis.
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2 comments:
Glad you share my opinion of this album, it is an absolute gem. But "Not only is the music silent"? What does that even mean?!
Silent in the sense that it's restrained, mostly quiet and definitely not loud like you could expect from Bitches Brew. Not absolutely silent, but comparatively so.
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