Miles Davis - Miles in the Sky (1968/2019) [Hi-Res]

An electrifying experience as Davis moves away from his traditional quintet sound toward a more jazz/rock feel later to be known as fusion. Illuminated by Herbie Hancock's Fender Rhodes, along with a guest appearance by George Benson on Paraphernalia.

Clive Davis, the new head of Columbia, understood the implications of the rise of pop, rock, and folk music. He strongly urged the jazzmen in his catalogue to evolve or to leave. Both intrigued and scornful of the white man’s music, Miles was inspired to take up the challenge and leave the ghetto of popular black music—soul and funk—to which he felt rock music was indebted. Beginning in December 1967, he experimented in the studio, much like the Beatles, letting the tapes turn continuously and leaving the editing to his producer Teo Macero. He imposed an electrical keyboard on Herbie Hancock and frequently called in a guitarist. Taking the initiative again, he wrote two titles: “Country Son,” with its contrasting moods, and “Stuff,” unabashedly funk, with Ron Carter on the electric bass guitar. On “Paraphernalia,” Wayne Shorter continued to explore his imaginary constructions which George Benson’s guitar (à la Wes Montgomery) coarsened, while Tony Williams invented paranormal computations in “Black Comedy.” The album was entitled Miles In The Sky, with a nod to the Beatles’ song “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.”

"With the 1968 album Miles in the Sky, Miles Davis explicitly pushed his second great quintet away from conventional jazz, pushing them toward the jazz-rock hybrid that would later become known as fusion. Here, the music is still in its formative stages, and it's a little more earth-bound than you might expect, especially following on the heels of the shape-shifting, elusive Nefertiti. On Miles in the Sky, much of the rhythms are straightforward, picking up on the direct 4/4 beats of rock, and these are illuminated by Herbie Hancock's electric piano -- one of the very first sounds on the record, as a matter of fact -- and the guest appearance of guitarist George Benson on "Paraphernalia." All of these additions are tangible and identifiable, and they do result in intriguing music, but the form of the music itself is surprisingly direct, playing as extended grooves. This meanders considerable more than Nefertiti, even if it is significantly less elliptical in its form, because it's primarily four long jams. Intriguing, successful jams in many respects, but even with the notable additions of electric instruments, and with the deliberately noisy "Country Son," this is less visionary than its predecessor and feels like a transitional album -- and, like many transitional albums, it's intriguing and frustrating in equal measures." (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG)

Miles Davis, trumpet, cornet on "Stuff" and "Country Son"
Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone
Herbie Hancock, piano, electric piano on "Stuff"
Ron Carter, bass, electric bass on "Stuff"
Tony Williams, drums
George Benson, electric guitar on "Paraphernalia"

Recorded January 16 and May 15–17, 1968 at Columbia Studio B in New York City
Produced by Teo Macero

Digitally remastered