Miles in The Sky

Description

A Dozen Five-Star Miles Davis Albums Spanning 1958-1971 Available from Mobile Fidelity on Definitive-Sounding LP and SACD: Get All 12
Miles in the Sky reflects the intriguing curiosities and rainbow possibilities suggested by the album cover. Miles Davis fifth and final album with his classic second quintet is kaleidoscopic in sound, forward-looking in structure, and contextually grounded in approach. As the legendary leaders first venture into what would become fusion, its historical for containing the premier appearances of electric piano, bass, and guitar on a Davis effort. Laden with rich textures and style-bridging elements, Mobile Fidelitys SACD brings the aural magic into focus.

Mastered from the original master tapes, this collectable audiophile version of Miles in the Sky joins the ranks of eleven other essential Davis sets given supreme sonic and packaging treatment by Mobile Fidelity. Afforded the benefits of higher resolution, Davis burnished trumpet resounds with utmost clarity, and the soundstage seems to extend for days. Reference-caliber separation and imaging give each musician their own space, allowing every passage to come across without any sonic limitations.

The albums wide-open soundscapes soar. As do the fluid contributions of Davis mates. Tony Williams percussion, central to every composition here, transpires before your eyes. Herbie Hancocks 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.

Granted enhanced production and a greater field of audible information, Miles in the Sky can finally be perceived as belonging to the same upper echelon as Davis ubiquitously acclaimed Nefertiti and Filles de Kilimanjarothe 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.