Miles Davis - In a Silent Way (1969)

Listening to Miles Davis' originally released version of In a Silent Way in light of the complete sessions released by Sony in 2001 (Columbia Legacy 65362) reveals just how strategic and dramatic a studio construction it was. If one listens to Joe Zawinul's original version of "In a Silent Way," it comes across as almost a folk song with a very pronounced melody. The version Miles Davis and Teo Macero assembled from the recording session in July of 1968 is anything but. There is no melody, not even a melodic frame. There are only vamps and solos, grooves layered on top of other grooves spiraling toward space but ending in silence. But even these don't begin until almost ten minutes into the piece. It's Miles and McLaughlin, sparely breathing and wending their way through a series of seemingly disconnected phrases until the groove monster kicks in. The solos are extended, digging deep into the heart of the ethereal groove, which was dark, smoky, and ashen. McLaughlin and Hancock are particularly brilliant, but Corea's solo on the Fender Rhodes is one of his most articulate and spiraling on the instrument ever. The A-side of the album, "Shhh/Peaceful," is even more so. With Tony Williams shimmering away on the cymbals in double time, Miles comes out slippery and slowly, playing over the top of the vamp, playing ostinato and moving off into more mysterious territory a moment at a time. With Zawinul's organ in the background offering the occasional swell of darkness and dimension, Miles could continue indefinitely. But McLaughlin is hovering, easing in, moving up against the organ and the trills by Hancock and Corea; Wayne Shorter hesitantly winds in and out of the mix on his soprano, filling space until it's his turn to solo. But John McLaughlin, playing solos and fills throughout (the piece is like one long dreamy solo for the guitarist), is what gives it its open quality, like a piece of music with no borders as he turns in and through the commingling keyboards as Holland paces everything along. When the first round of solos ends, Zawinul and McLaughlin and Williams usher it back in with painterly decoration and illumination from Corea and Hancock. Miles picks up on another riff created by Corea and slips in to bring back the ostinato "theme" of the work. He plays glissando right near the very end, which is the only place where the band swells and the tune moves above a whisper before Zawinul's organ fades it into silence. This disc holds up, and perhaps is even stronger because of the issue of the complete sessions. It is, along with Jack Johnson and Bitches Brew, a signature Miles Davis session from the electric era.

by Thom Jurek at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Fusion
Jazz-Rock
Avant-Garde Jazz

Tracks:
01 Shhh/Peaceful
02 In A Silent Way

Line-up:
Miles Davis – trumpet
Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone
John McLaughlin – electric guitar
Chick Corea – electric piano
Herbie Hancock – electric piano
Joe Zawinul – organ
Dave Holland – double bass
Tony Williams – drums

John Scofield - That's What I Say (2005)

With John Scofield, a big part of the fun is never knowing what the guitarist will do from one album to the next. He might provide an album that is abstract and cerebral, or he might come up with something funky and groove-oriented; That's What I Say: John Scofield Plays the Music of Ray Charles is a perfect example of the latter. Featuring well-known guest vocalists who include Dr. John, Mavis Staples (as in the Staple Sisters), Aaron Neville and John Mayer, this tribute to the late Ray Charles is definitely one of Scofield's more commercial projects -- which isn't to say that he shouldn't be proud of the album. Commercialism isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as it is tastefully done, and That's What I Say is a tasteful effort that finds Scofield fluctuating between instrumental soul-jazz and vocal-oriented soul. Produced by drummer Steve Jordan, this 65-minute CD isn't for jazz snobs, but rather, those who hold jazz and R&B in equally high regard -- and people who fit that description will appreciate Scofield's instrumental soul-jazz workouts on "Hit the Road, Jack," "Busted" and "Unchain My Heart," but will be equally receptive to the straight-up R&B singing of Neville on "You Don't Know Me" and Staples on Don Gibson's "I Can't Stop Loving You" (one of the many country songs that received an R&B makeover from Charles). The disc's only disappointing track is an instrumental version of Buck Owens' "Cryin' Time." Scofield uses the Bakersfield sound honky tonk classic as a brief interlude to "I Can't Stop Loving You," but "Cryin' Time" deserved more of his time than a minute and a half -- and it's regrettable that Scofield doesn't stretch out on the Owens gem. But overall, That's What I Say is a creative success for Scofield and the R&B and jazz artists who join him.

by Alex Henderson at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Contemporary Jazz
Post-Bop

Tracks:
01 Busted
02 What'd I Say
03 Sticks and Stones
04 I Don't Need No Doctor
05 Cryin' Time
06 I Can't Stop Loving You
07 Hit the Road Jack
08 Talkin' Bout You/I Got a Woman
09 Unchain My Heart, Pt. 1
10 Let's Go Get Stoned
11 Night Time Is the Right Time
12 You Don't Know Me
13 Georgia on My Mind

Line-up:
John Scofield - guitar
Larry Goldings - piano / hammond B3 organ / wurlitzer / vibes
Willie Weeks - bass & ampeg baby bass
Steve Jordan - drums / cocktail drums / tambourine / background vocals

Guests:
Warren Haynes - vocals (tracks 2 & 11) / bottleneck guitar (track 11)
John Mayer - vocals (tracks 2 & 4) / guitars (track 4)
Aaron Neville - vocals (tracks 2 & 12)
David "Fathead" Newman - tenor saxophone (tracks 2 & 7)
Dr. John - vocals (tracks 2 & 8) / piano (track 8)
Mavis Staples - vocals (tracks 2 & 6)
Manolo Badrena - percussion / spanish speaking
Lisa Fischer - background vocals
Vaneese Thomas - background vocals
Meegan Voss - background vocals
Alex Foster - tenor saxophone
Earl Gardner - trumpet
Howard Johnson -baritone saxophone
Keith O'Quinn - trombone

Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame (1971)

This is the album that made John McLaughlin a semi-household name, a furious, high-energy, yet rigorously conceived meeting of virtuosos that, for all intents and purposes, defined the fusion of jazz and rock a year after Miles Davis' Bitches Brew breakthrough. It also inadvertently led to the derogatory connotation of the word fusion, for it paved the way for an army of imitators, many of whose excesses and commercial panderings devalued the entire movement. Though much was made of the influence of jazz-influenced improvisation in the Mahavishnu band, it is the rock element that predominates, stemming directly from the electronic innovations of Jimi Hendrix. The improvisations, particularly McLaughlin's post-Hendrix machine-gun assaults on double-necked electric guitar and Jerry Goodman's flights on electric violin, owe more to the freakouts that had been circulating in progressive rock circles than to jazz, based as they often are on ostinatos on one chord. These still sound genuinely thrilling today on CD, as McLaughlin and Goodman battle Jan Hammer's keyboards, Rick Laird's bass, and especially Billy Cobham's hard-charging drums, whose jazz-trained technique pushed the envelope for all rock drummers. What doesn't date so well are the composed medium- and high-velocity unison passages that are played in such tight lockstep that they can't breathe. There is also time out for quieter, reflective numbers that are drenched in studied spirituality ("A Lotus on Irish Streams") or irony ("You Know You Know"); McLaughlin was to do better in that department with less-driven colleagues elsewhere in his career. Aimed with absolute precision at young rock fans, this record was wildly popular in its day, and it may have been the cause of more blown-out home amplifiers than any other record this side of Deep Purple.

by Richard S. Ginell at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Jazz-Rock
Fusion

Tracks:
01 Meeting of the Spirits
02 Dawn
03 The Noonward Race
04 A Lotus on Irish Streams
05 Vital Transformation
06 The Dance of Maya
07 You Know You Know
08 Awakening

Line-up:
John McLaughlin - guitar
Rick Laird - bass
Billy Cobham - drums / percussion
Jan Hammer - keyboards / organ
Jerry Goodman - violin

Mahavishnu Orchestra at Syracuse University (1972)

Tracks:
01 Meeting of the Spirits
02 The Dance of Maya
03 Dawn

Line-up:
John McLaughlin - guitars
Billy Cobham - drums
Rick Laird - bass
Jan Hammer - electric piano / organ
Jerry Goodman - violin

Weather Report - Mysterious Traveller (1974)

Weather Report's fourth recording finds Wayne Shorter (on soprano and tenor) taking a lesser role as Joe Zawinul begins to really dominate the group's sound. Most selections also include bassist Alphonso Johnson and drummer Ishmael Wilburn although the personnel shifts from track to track. "Nubian Sundance" adds several vocalists while "Blackthorn Rose" is a Shorter-Zawinul duet. Overall the music is pretty stimulating and sometimes adventurous; high-quality fusion from 1974.

by Scott Yanow at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Fusion

Tracks:
01 Nubian Sundance
02 American Tango
03 Cucumber Slumber
04 Mysterious Traveller
05 Blackthorn Rose
06 Scarlet Woman
07 Jungle Book

Line-up:
Joe Zawinul - acoustic and electric piano / synthesizer / guitar / kalimba / organ / tamboura / clay drum / tack piano / melodica
Wayne Shorter - soprano and tenor saxophone / tack piano
Alphonso Johnson - bass
Ishmael Wilburn - drums
Skip Hadden - drums (tracks 1 and 4 only)
Dom Um Romão - percussion / drums

Guests:
Miroslav Vitous - bass (track 2)
Ray Barretto - percussion (track 3)
Meruga - percussion (track 1)
Steve Little - timpani (track 6)
Don Ashworth - ocarinas and woodwinds (track 7)
Isacoff - tabla / finger cymbals (track 7)
Edna Wright - vocalists (track 1)
Marti McCall - vocalists (track 1)
Jessica Smith - vocalists (track 1)
James Gilstrad - vocalists (track 1)
Billie Barnum - vocalists (track 1)

Herbie Hancock - Flood (1975)

Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters take to the road in the live double album Flood, recorded and released only in Japan. Contrary to the impression left by his American releases at this time, Hancock was still very much attached to the acoustic piano, as his erudite opening workout on "Maiden Voyage/Actual Proof" with his funk rhythm section makes clear. The electric keyboards, mostly Rhodes piano and clavinet, make their first appearances on side two, where Hancock now becomes more of a funky adjunct to the rhythm section, bumping along with a superb feeling for the groove while Bennie Maupin takes the high road above on a panoply of winds. Except for "Voyage," the tunes come from the Head Hunters, Thrust, and Man-Child albums (another reason why this was not released in the U.S.). "Chameleon" comes with a lengthy outbreak of machine pink noise that attests to Hancock's wide-eyed love of gadgetry. In all, this was a great funk band, not all that danceable because of the rapid complexities of Mike Clark's drumming, and quite often, full of harmonic depth and adventure.

by Richard S. Ginell at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Jazz-Funk
Funk
Fusion
Post-Bop

Tracks:
01 Introduction/Mayden Voyage
02 Actual Proof
03 Spank-A-Lee
04 Watermelon Man
05 Butterfly
06 Chameleon
07 Hang up Your Hangs Ups

Line-up:
Mike Clark – drums
Herbie Hancock – acoustic piano / fender rhodes / clavinet / arp odyssey / arp soloist / arp string ensemble
Paul Jackson – fender bass
Bennie Maupin – soprano and tenor saxophone / saxello / bass clarinet / flute / percussion
Dewayne McKnight – guitar
Bill Summers – congas / percussion

Herbie Hancock - Empyrean Isles (1964)

My Point of View and Inventions and Dimensions found Herbie Hancock exploring the fringes of hard bop, working with a big band and a Latin-flavored percussion section, respectively. On Empyrean Isles, he returns to hard bop, but the results are anything but conventional. Working with cornetist Freddie Hubbard, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams -- a trio just as young and adventurous as he was -- Hancock pushes at the borders of hard bop, finding a brilliantly evocative balance between traditional bop, soul-injected grooves, and experimental, post-modal jazz. Hancock's four original concepts are loosely based on the myths of the Empyrean Isles, and they are designed to push the limits of the band and of hard bop. Even "Cantaloupe Island," well-known for its funky piano riff, takes chances and doesn't just ride the groove. "The Egg," with its minimal melody and extended solo improvisations, is the riskiest number on the record, but it works because each musician spins inventive, challenging solos that defy convention. In comparison, "One Finger Snap" and "Oliloqui Valley" (alternate takes of both tracks are included as bonuses on the CD reissue) adhere to hard bop conventions, but each song finds the quartet vigorously searching for new sonic territory with convincing fire. That passion informs all of Empyrean Isles, a record that officially established Hancock as a major artist in his own right.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Modal Music
Hard Bop

Tracks:
01 One Finger Snap
02 Oliloqui Valley
03 Cantaloupe Island
04 The Egg
05 One Finger Snap (alternate take)
06 Oliloqui Valley (alternate take)

Line-up:
Herbie Hancock - piano
Freddie Hubbard - cornet / flugelhorn
Ron Carter - bass
Tony Williams - drums