Album #74 : Miles Davis - In A Silent Way

Miles Davis

In A Silent Way (1969)

Those people with more than a passing interest in musical history will know of the storm of outrage that greeted Bob Dylan's infamous electric performance at the Newport Folk Festival. To the hardcore folkies, the use of electric instruments was forbidden, a heinous crime, punishable by death; a betrayal of the folk troubadour ideal.

To hardcore jazz fans, legendary trumpeter Miles Davis's album In A Silent Way was their Newport Folk Festival. After flirting with jazz fusion, on this album, Davis jumped in feet first; not only eschewing traditional jazz structures, but by going electric.

And didn't the jazz community react badly. Jazz critics panned the album and decried Davis as a traitor to the cause - this sounds like rock, they said, and they hated it as a result. Rock critics, on the other hand, thought it was amazing and believed that Davis was moving in their direction.

The truth, however, is somewhere in the middle, hence the album's status as a fusion album. Mind you, those jazz critics were not going to be appeased any time soon, as this album marked the beginning of a distinct electric fusion period for the jazz maestro.

The Album

In A Silent Way consists of two pieces of music, both about nineteen minutes long. Producer Teo Macero helped Davis adopt a new way of working for this album; performances were recorded, individually selected and then spliced together, creating the music. This was completely different to the way most jazz bands recorded at the time, where the recording was usually done live, in a single take, allowing for greater individual ad-libbing of solos. Additionally, the two pieces are in a simplistic use of the sonata form; the first and third parts of the pieces are identical (acting as the exposition and a modified recapitulation) and the middle is the development of the piece. 

Of the two pieces, In A Silent Way/It's About That Time is the better one. The In A Silent Way section (written by organist Joe Zawinul) is an early precursor of the ambient movement, its electric piano and guitar providing a sombre, subtly droning backdrop. Swirling around, just above that backdrop, are a trumpet solo from Davis and a mournful soprano saxophone line from Wayne Shorter. It's About That Time begins at 4.11, and assaults you from the outset with a wild, discordant Davis solo. Adding to the chaos is a similarly discordant electric piano section that mingles with Davis's trumpet. Later, there's a cool-sounding double bass/organ rhythm line, and a deftly fingered jazz guitar solo from another legend of jazz fusion, John McLaughlin. Drummer Tony Williams also gets to display his chops, with some jazzy ride cymbal work and snappy off-time snare beats. Impressively, he stays perfectly matched to Dave Holland's double bass. The presence of electric piano and organ in the mix demonstrate to great effect the fusion of jazz and more progressive rock influences.

The other composition, while not as influential, risk-taking or groundbreaking, is still a great piece of music that is slightly more akin to traditional jazz, particularly in its percussion. Shhh/Peaceful features some terrific solo playing throughout. In Shhh, it's Davis who takes centre stage, albeit with a gentle, smooth solo section. Given the song's title, this is no surprise; nor is the equally gentle use of electric piano, guitar and organ. The only non-gentle thing is Williams' rhythmic, unflinching hi-hat pattern. In Peaceful, McLaughlin takes over with some remarkable jazz guitar playing. It sounds absolutely effortless, especially when McLaughlin is playing more complex, note-heavy sections. Williams adds in a few accented hi-hat notes to break up the steady rhythm, and later, McLaughlin trades solos with the duo of Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock on electric piano. 

The Verdict

It might lack the insanity of its followup, the acclaimed and successful Bitches Brew, but In A Silent Way is still an important album in musical history, and a pretty good listen to boot. It's the sort of music you could put on during Sunday sippers and please everybody; the non-musically inclined won't complain because it's unobtrusive jazz, while the musically inclined will be fascinated by its complete rejection of both the jazz and rock structures and labels.

It also isn't the best album to listen to if you want to discover Miles Davis, trumpet genius. However, it's a great place to start discovering Miles Davis, musical risktaker.

My rating: ****

Part II of Jazz Odyssey features Phil Collins. Please don't run away though, he isn't singing shithouse Disney songs....