Artist: Miles Davis
Album: Sketches Of Spain [Bonus Tracks]
Release Date: 1960
Recording Date: November 15, 1959 - March 10, 1960
Label: Columbia/Legacy
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Cool, Orchestral Jazz
Run Time: 60:44
File Size: 348 Megabytes
Quality / Bitrate: FLAC 1.2.1 / 761 Kbits / 44.1 KHz / Stereo
~ T R A C K L I S T I N G ~
1. Concierto de Aranjuez [Rodrigo] (16:19)
2. Will O' the Wisp [DeFalla] (03:47)
3. The Pan Piper [Evans] (03:52)
4. Saeta [Evans] (05:06)
5. Solea [Evans] (12:15)
6. Song of Our Country [*] [Evans] (03:23)
7. Concierto de Aranjuez, Pt. 1 (alternate take/*) [Rodrigo] (12:04)
8. Concierto de Aranjuez, Pt. 2 (Ending) (alternate take/*) [Rodrigo] (03:33)
~ P E R S O N N E L ~
Miles Davis Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Main Performer, Flageolet
Gil Evans Arranger, Conductor
Jose Mangual Percussion
Jimmy McAllister Tuba, ?
Tony Miranda French Horn
Louis Mucci Trumpet
Romeo Penque Oboe
Fred Plaut Engineer
Janet Putnam Harp
Dick Hixon Trombone
Joe Singer French Horn
Al Block Flute, Oboe, Tuba
Jimmy Cobb Drums
Danny Bank Bass, Clarinet, Clarinet (Bass)
Billy Barber Tuba
John Barrows French Horn, ?
Albert Block Flute
James Buffington Horn, French Horn, ?, Fender Rhodes
Eddie Caine Flute, Flugelhorn
Paul Chambers Bass
Earl Chapin French Horn
Harold Feldman Clarinet, Oboe, Flute
Bernie Glow Trumpet
Kevin Gore Director
Nat Hentoff Liner Notes
Jack Knitzer Bassoon
Johnny Coles Trumpet
Elvin Jones Percussion
Taft Jordan Trumpet
Frank Rehak Trombone, ?
Ernie Royal Trumpet
Irving Townsend Producer
Tom "Curly" Ruff Engineer
Mark Wilder Engineer, Digital Mastering
Teo Macero Producer
Phil Schaap Producer, Reissue Producer, Digital Mastering, Remastering, Restoration, Research, Liner Notes
Along with Kind of Blue, In a Silent Way, and Round About Midnight, Sketches of Spain is one of Miles Davis' most enduring and innovative achievements. Recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 -- after Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley had left the band -- Miles teamed with British arranger Gil Evans for the third time. Davis brought Evans the album's signature piece, "Concierto de Aranjuez," after hearing a classical version of it at bassist Joe Mondragon's house. Evans was as taken with it as Miles and set about to create an entire album of material around it. The result is a masterpiece of modern art. On the "Concierto," Evans' arrangement provided an orchestra and jazz band -- Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Elvin Jones -- the opportunity to record a classical work as it was. The piece, with its stunning colors and intricate yet transcendent adagio, played by Davis on a flügelhorn with a Harmon mute, is one of the most memorable works to come from popular culture in the 20th century. Davis'
control over his instrument is singular, and Evans' conducting is flawless. Also notable are "Saeta," with one of the most amazing technical solos of Davis' career, and the album's closer, "Solea," which is conceptually a narrative piece, based on an Andalusian folk song, about a woman who encounters the procession taking Christ to Calvary. She sings the narrative of his passion and the procession -- or parade -- with full brass accompaniment moves on. Cobb and Jones, with flamenco-flavored percussion, are particularly wonderful here, as they allow the orchestra to indulge in the lushly passionate arrangement Evans provided to accompany Davis, who was clearly at his most challenged here, though he delivers with grace and verve. Sketches of Spain is the most luxuriant and stridently romantic recording Davis ever made. To listen to it in the 21st century is still a spine-tingling experience as one encounters a multitude of timbres, tonalities, and harmonic structures seldom found in the music called
jazz. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide