The Studio Recordings of the Miles Davis Quintet 1965-68

Oxford Studies in Recorded Jazz

by Keith Waters

The "Second Quintet" -- the Miles Davis Quintet of the mid-1960s -- was one of the most innovative and influential groups in the history of the genre. Each of the musicians who performed with Davis--saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams--went on to a successful career as a top player. The studio recordings released by this group made profound contributions to improvisational strategies, jazz composition, and mediation between mainstream and avant-garde jazz, yet most critical attention has focused instead on live performances or the socio-cultural context of the work. Keith Waters' The Studio Recordings of the Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-68 concentrates instead on the music itself, as written, performed, and recorded.

Treating six different studio recordings in depth--ESP, Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky, and Filles de Kilimanjaro--Waters has tracked down a host of references to and explications of Davis' work. His analysis takes into account contemporary reviews of the recordings, interviews with the five musicians, and relevant larger-scale cultural studies of the era, as well as two previously unexplored the studio outtakes and Wayne Shorter's Library of Congress composition deposits. Only recently made available, the outtakes throw the master takes into relief, revealing how the musicians and producer organized and edited the material to craft a unified artistic statement for each of these albums. The author's research into the Shorter archives proves to be of even broader significance and interest, as Waters is able now to demonstrate the composer's original conception of a given piece. Waters also points out errors in the notated versions of the canonical songs
as they often appear in the main sources available to musicians and scholars. An indispensible resource, The Miles Davis Quintet Studio 1965-1968 is suited for the jazz scholar as well as for jazz musicians and aficionados of all levels.

Genres: Music, Jazz, Reference

320 pages, Hardcover

First published February 11, 2011

Reviews

[Michael Finocchiaro]

Despite its very technical analysis of the sheet music from the 5 epic albums of Miles Davis’ Second Quintet, this book is fascinating as it helps the reader get a sense for the intricacies behind this beautiful music. Miles Davis broke up his original Quintet (Red Garland, John Coltrane, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones) just before the seminal recording Kind of Blue in 1959. It wasn’t until 1964 that he constituted this grouping of Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. They recorded 5 1/2 studio albums (E.S.P., Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky, and Filles de Kilimanjaro (although this last album saw the quintet augmented with guitar and electric instruments and a separation from Herbie Hancock) and two live albums (Live in Berlin and Live at the Plugged Nickel) - some of the most complex and adventurous and still accessible jazz music ever recorded. In the book, Waters analyses each song, head, solo and composition in detail trying to show as Herbie Hancock called it, “controlled freedom.” All the deep discussion of various modes, scales, pedal points, harmonics, etc had me way out of my depth, and yet, I tried to follow along listening to the albums and reading the scores. I definitely gained further appreciation for the incredible chemistry among these five geniuses - arguably the greatest improvisational quintet ever put together. It is truly astounding to re-listen to these albums that, on the surface, seem so calm and yet hid an ocean of compositional and harmonic complexities. A great book for jazz aficionados.

[Craig Dove]

I didn't realize that it's taken me just about a year to finish this book; but I've tried to listen repeatedly to the songs analyzed here. It's given me a much greater appreciation for a set of songs that I already enjoyed. Not a book for the casual reader, though!

[Shelley]

This book can be difficult even for musicians with a theoretical background. Much re-reading was involved in order to fully grasp the analysis. But it was worth it. Waters' excellent study of Davis' second great quintet's studio recordings both enhanced my appreciation and understanding of albums I know intimately ("E.S.P."), while providing a fresh perspective on records I've struggled with ("Miles In The Sky" for instance). Water's critical study may appear heavy and daunting, but having one's ears opened to seminal music has been most rewarding. Essential for fans of Davis' mid to late 1960s recordings.

[Joel]

Highly technical but if you love this legendary Quintet but have been mesmerized by the music, this book will help unlock some of the mystery.

[Marco]

A must for anyone interested in the birth of modern jazz harmony and composition.
It has original charts and in depht analysis of loads of tunes and loads of transcriptions.
Good interviews and good insights about the band and each album.