In a Silent Way

Infobox Album | Name = In a Silent Way
Type = Album
Artist = Miles Davis


Released = October 1969
Recorded = February 18, 1969
30th Street Studio B
(New York, New York)
Genre = Jazz fusion
Length = 38:10
Label = Columbia
CS-9875
Producer = Teo Macero
Reviews =
* Allmusic rating|5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:p9508qzbbtz4~T00 link]
*"Penguin Guide to Jazz" rating|4|4
*"Rolling Stone" (very favorable) [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/milesdavis/albums/album/291761/review/6068005/in_a_silent_way link]
* "UNCUT" rating|4|5 11/2002, p. 139|Last album = "Filles de Kilimanjaro" (1969)
This album = "In a Silent Way" (1969)
Next album = "Bitches Brew" (1970)

"In a Silent Way" is a 1969 album by jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. Although previous Davis records and live performances had already begun the shift to jazz fusion, "In a Silent Way" featured a full-blown electric approach. For this and other reasons, it is usually regarded as the first of his fusion recordings. It is also the first recording by Davis that was largely constructed by the editing and arrangement of producer Teo Macero. Macero's editing techniques are said to have incorporated elements of classical sonata form in Davis' recordings for "In a Silent Way". [Tingen, Paul, in [http://www.miles-beyond.com Miles Beyond] ] Both of the extended tracks on the album consist of three distinct parts that could be thought of as an exposition, development and recapitulation. The last six minutes of the first track are actually the first six minutes of the same track repeated in exactly the same form. With this "trick" the track took on a more understandable structure.

The album featured virtuoso guitarist and newcomer John McLaughlin, who had one month prior to the February 18th "In a Silent Way" session recorded his classic debut album "Extrapolation". At the request of Tony Williams, McLaughlin moved in early February from England to the US to play with The Tony Williams Lifetime. Williams brought McLaughlin to Davis' house the night before the scheduled session for "In a Silent Way". Davis had not heard the guitarist before, but was so impressed that he told him to show up at the studio the next day. McLaughlin would go on to great fame in the 1970s as leader of the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Davis' next fusion album, "Bitches Brew", showed him moving even further into the area that lay between the genres of rock and jazz. The dark, fractured dissonance of "Bitches Brew" ultimately proved to be instrumental in its success; it far outsold "In a Silent Way".

In 2001, Columbia Legacy/Sony Music released "The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions", a three-disc box set which included the unedited recordings used to produce the original album, "In a Silent Way" as originally edited, and additional tracks.

"The Penguin Guide to Jazz" has included "In a Silent Way" in its suggested "Core Collection."cite book|last=Cook|first=Richard|authorlink=Richard Cook|coauthors=Brian Morton|title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings|origyear=1992|edition=8th ed.|series=The Penguin Guide to Jazz|year=2006|publisher=Penguin|location=New York|language=English|isbn=0-141-02327-9|pages=pp. 326-327|chapter=Miles Davis]

Track listing

Original LP side one

# "Shhh/Peaceful" (Miles Davis) – 18:16
## "Shhh" – 6:14
## "Peaceful" – 5:42
## "Shhh" – 6:20

Original LP side two

# "In a Silent Way/It's About That Time" (Joe Zawinul, Miles Davis) – 19:52
## "In a Silent Way" (Joe Zawinul) – 4:11
## "It's About That Time" (Miles Davis) – 11:27
## "In a Silent Way" (Joe Zawinul) – 4:14

Personnel

* Miles Davis – trumpet
* Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone
* John McLaughlin – electric guitar
* Chick Corea – electric piano
* Joe Zawinul – organ
* Dave Holland – double bass
* Tony Williams – drums

Notes

References

* Carr, Ian. "Miles Davis: The Definitive Biography". Thunder's Mouth Press, New York, 1998.
* Tingen, Paul. "Miles Beyond: The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967-1991". Billboard Books, New York, 2001. [http://www.miles-beyond.com Miles Beyond]
* [http://www.miles-beyond.com/iaswbitchesbrew.htm Article about the making of "In A Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew"] ]