Miles Davis - Miles In The Sky

AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine  [-]

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.

00:00 - - - A1 — Stuff (M. Davis) . . . (16.58)
17:06 - - - A2 — Paraphernalia (W. Shorter) . . . (12.36) 29:45 - - - End Side a) 30:04 - - - B1 — Black Comedy (T. Williams) . . . (7.25) 37:37 - - - A2 — Country Son (M. Davis) . . . (13.49) 51:25 - - - End Side b) Miles Davis - Trumpet Herbie Hancock - Piano and Electric Piano Wayne Shorter - Tenor Saxophone Ron Carter - Bass Tony Williams - Drums George Benson - Guitar on A2, “Paraphernalia”
Recorded January 16 and May 15-17, 1968 at Columbia Studio B in New York City Released on July 22, 1968

Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Europe - 1982 CBS — CBS 85548 740p Produced by Teo Macero Engineering - Frank Laico, Arthur Kendy Cover Art - Victor Atkins Back Cover Photo - Hiro (Yasuhiro Wakabayashi) Made in Holland Printed in Holland ℗ 1968 CBS Inc. / © 1968 CBS Inc.