Miles Smiles

Product Details

Artist : Miles Davis
Binding : Audio CD
EAN : 0074646568224
Label : Sony Music Canada Inc.
Number of Discs : 1
Product Group : Music
Release Date : 1998-10-13
UPC : 074646568224

ASIN : B00000DCH1

Track Listings for

Disc-1
1. Orbits
2. Circle
3. Footprints
4. Dolores
5. Freedom Jazz Dance
6. Gingerbread Boy

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Editorial Reviews

From Amazon.com

The most satisfying sort of audacity was the rule with Miles Davis's second great quintet. One of six studio albums cut by the group between 1965 and 1968, Miles Smiles finds them executing three Wayne Shorter compositions and one by the leader, along with Eddie Harris's "Freedom Jazz Dance," former Davis cohort Jimmy Cobb's "Gingerbread Boy," and the usual mix of finesse and barreling momentum. Even when nodding toward the then-burgeoning hard-bop movement on the Harris piece, the group makes its own mark in a hundred different ways, from Herbie Hancock's spare touch to the thoroughly declarative solo Davis lays down. It's hard to pick the most exceptional cut on such a top-flight disc, but certainly Shorter's deceptively simple "Orbits" and "Footprints" deserve mention; on the former, the players take turns stating the melody and then rumbling over it. The latter's echoes of "Caravan" make way for an improv performance that not only hangs tough in itself, but seems to have provided a template for the entire early career of Wynton Marsalis. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

the best of the miles davis quintet (2004-06-12)

Hooray for Wayne Shorter! He did some of his best work with this group. Orbits and Dolores have some of his trademark symmetrical fourths-oriented melodies and Herbie acting like the third horn that he truly is. Freedom Jazz Dance and Gingerbread Boy sound like originals here; the latter has a very creative treatment given to it. Wayne's other piece, Footprints, gives the rhythm section a great chance to demonstrate how they did turn jazz upside down with their psychic interplay and continual inventiveness.However, I would like to give special recognition to Circle, which is a work of art in itself. They have raved about it in liner notes, from Miles's spare, perfectly balanced melody interpretation to Herbie's solo that was so rich in classical impressionistic vocabulary and pacing that I bet even he was surprised with himself. This performance alone gives this work, and this quintet, a place in one of the most widely imitated and never duplicated groups in all of jazz.

MILES BEST RECORDING FROM THE SECOND QUINTET (2004-06-12)

The Second Quintet went all out in this 1966 recording!It is in my list of his top 5 recordings during his entire career!Miles at his best!!!!!!

Not hybrid SACD (2004-04-23)

Be warned, this is not a hybrid SACD, it will only play in SACD players. There is a non-SACD version available.

If you could only get one recording by this quintet (2004-04-14)

Fire, passion, intensely cooperative, introspective, inspiring, creative...This is my favorite studio recording of this quintet. Tony was SLAMMIN on this session! As a group this band excelled at listening and playing off each other (check out Four & More for further confirmation). Through the use of compound meter, Williams and Chambers take Footsteps to new polyrhythmic place (hear this influence on Robert Hurst and Jeff Watts on Standard Time Vol. 1). Truly an artistic master piece.

The best from the second Miles Davis Quintet (2003-12-16)

Miles Smiles is the best release from the second Miles Davis Quintet and one of his best albums overall. Miles was well known for getting the best of out of his band and this album is no exception. "Orbits" is a hard-bop track similar to his previous album E.S.P. "Circle" is a slower piece reminiscent of the Kind Of Blue era. Herbie Hancock's solos are the highlight of these tracks although Miles' solo in "Circle" is great as well. Wayne Shorter's pieces, particularly "Footprints" and "Dolores", are strong tracks both featuring excellent soloing over the fantastic rhythm playing of bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams. Miles liked to call Williams the anchor of the band and he proves that in his performaces on "Freedom Jazz Dance" and "Gingerbread Boy." The latter is the most intense track here featuring more great solos from Shorter, Davis, and Hancock. An essential Miles Davis release. Highly recommended.

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