MILES DAVIS QUINTET - Miles Smiles

MILES DAVIS QUINTET - Miles Smiles (SPC9401)

Speakers Corner - LP AUDIOPHILE PRESSING 180g

"Miles Smiles" Miles Davis (tr); Wayne Shorter (ts); Herbie Hancock (p); Ron Carter (b); Tony Williams (dr)

Apart from the recording of a live performance at the Portland Festival, Miles Davis' discography for 1966 lists only the recordings made for the LP "Miles Smiles"! How strange, considering the usual comprehensive output of Miles and his ensembles for Columbia Records in the sixties.
Bassist Ron Carter was just the right man for the complex rhythm part and remained Miles' “number one” in a quintet that reinterpreted compositions by Wayne Shorter as well as jazz hits like Eddie Harris's "Freedom Jazz Dance" and Jimmy Heath's "Gingerbread Boy".
Every second of Shorter’s nine-minute "Footprints" is an absolute highlight, while young Tony Williams’ drumming on "Freedom Jazz Dance" is full of vitality, tightly paced, and even described as 'menacing' in the liner notes. This music is neither "new current" nor "old guard", but good modern jazz, according to Anthony Tuttle. That was exactly what "Miles Smiles" stood for at the time of its release 40 years ago – and still does today! And that Miles Davis once smiled due to the splendid musical accord between the five musicians is certainly no mere rumour.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using exclusively analogue components, from the masters all the way through to the cutting head (https://pure-analogue.com)

Recording: October 1966 at Columbia RecordsStudios, New York, by Frank Laico
Production: Teo Macero

• Columbia CS 9401
• Format: 1LP 180g 33rpm / standard sleeve
• Original Label: Columbia
• Barcode: 4260019713292
• Release Date: 2008-03-11