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- Date Released: November 15, 1959
- Genre: Jazz
- Label: Columbia/Legacy
- Copyright: Originally recorded 1959, 1960 Sony Music Entertainment Inc., Originally released 1960 Sony Music Entertainment Inc. WARNING: All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.
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We Say...
Arranger Gil Evans was one of Miles Davis's key allies throughout his career. Starting in 1957 they collaborated on four projects for trumpet and orchestra, beginning with the fine Miles Ahead and ending with the problematic but still rewarding Quiet Nights. The series' middle volumes are Porgy and Bess, where Gershwin's music inspires some of Miles's most poignant trumpeting, and the exquisite Sketches of Spain. Its long flagship number recasts a slow movement from a 1939 guitar concerto by Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo; it's enlivened by Evans' gorgeous dissonances for flutes and massed brass, and flamenco echoes from rattling castanets. But the album's real marvels are a pair of shorter pieces derived from field recordings, which push Miles into previously uncharted territory. "The Pied Piper" is based on a Peruvian Indian pennywhistle melody, played by a pig castrator to advertise his services as he makes his rounds. Miles imbues it with such deep feeling, it's as if he empathizes with the pigs. "Saeta" draws on music for a Spanish Holy Week procession, right down to the sound of a brass band advancing from and then retreating into the distance, like something out of Charles Ives; the dire, wounded sound of Davis's trumpet is unforgettably stark.
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They Say...
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.
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08 Total Tracks, 60:20 Total Length
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Credits
- Johnny Coles - Trumpet // Johnny Coles - Trumpet // Miles Davis - Trumpet // Miles Davis - Trumpet // Miles Davis - Trumpet // Miles Davis - Trumpet // Miles Davis - Trumpet // Miles Davis - Trumpet // Miles Davis - Trumpet // Miles Davis - Trumpet // Miles Davis - Trumpet // Miles Davis - Flageolet // Miles Davis - Flageolet // Miles Davis - Flageolet // Miles Davis - Flageolet // Miles Davis - Flageolet // Miles Davis - Flageolet // Miles Davis - Flageolet // Miles Davis - Flageolet // Miles Davis - Flageolet // Miles Davis - Flugelhorn // Miles Davis - Flugelhorn // Miles Davis - Flugelhorn // Miles Davis - Flugelhorn // Miles Davis - Flugelhorn // Miles Davis - Flugelhorn // Miles Davis - Flugelhorn // Miles Davis - Flugelhorn // Miles Davis - Flugelhorn // Miles Davis - Main Performer // Miles Davis - Main Performer // Miles Davis - Main Performer // Miles Davis - Main Performer // Miles Davis - Main Performer // Miles Davis - Main Performer // Miles Davis - Main Performer // Miles Davis - Main Performer // Miles Davis - Main Performer // Elvin Jones - Percussion // Elvin Jones - Percussion // Elvin Jones - Percussion // Taft Jordan - Trumpet // Frank Rehak - Trombone // Frank Rehak - ? // Ernie Royal - Trumpet // Steven Berkowitz - Director // Steven Berkowitz - Reissue Series // Jimmy Cobb - Drums // Jimmy Cobb - Drums // Danny Bank - Bass // Danny Bank - Clarinet // Danny Bank - Clarinet (Bass) // Billy Barber - Tuba // John Barrows - French Horn // John Barrows - ? // Albert Block - Flute // James Buffington - Horn // James Buffington - French Horn // James Buffington - ? // James Buffington - Fender Rhodes // Eddie Caine - Flute // Eddie Caine - Flugelhorn // Paul Chambers - Bass // Earl Chapin - French Horn // Gil Evans - Arranger // Gil Evans - Arranger // Gil Evans - Arranger // Gil Evans - Arranger // Gil Evans - Conductor // Gil Evans - Conductor // Gil Evans - Conductor // Gil Evans - Conductor // Harold Feldman - Clarinet // Harold Feldman - Flute // Harold Feldman - Flugelhorn // Harold Feldman - Oboe // Bernie Glow - Trumpet // Kevin Gore - Director // Kevin Gore - Reissue Series // Nat Hentoff - Liner Notes // Jack Knitzer - Bassoon // Teo Macero - Producer // Jose Mangual - Percussion // Jimmy McAllister - Tuba // Jimmy McAllister - ? // Tony Miranda - French Horn // Louis Mucci - Trumpet // Romeo Penque - Oboe // Fred Plaut - Engineer // Janet Putnam - Harp // Phil Schaap - Producer // Phil Schaap - Liner Notes // Phil Schaap - Reissue Producer // Phil Schaap - Digital Mastering // Phil Schaap - Remastering // Phil Schaap - Research // Phil Schaap - Restoration // Vernon Smith - ? // Vernon Smith - Photography // Irving Townsend - Producer // Mark Wilder - Engineer // Mark Wilder - Digital Mastering // Dick Hixon - Trombone // Joe Singer - French Horn // Tom "Curly" Ruff - Engineer // Seth Rothstein - Director // Seth Rothstein - Project Director // Howard Fritzson - Art Direction // Howard Fritzson - Reissue Art Director // Al Block - Flute // Al Block - Tuba // Al Block - Flugelhorn // Al Block - Oboe // Randall Martin - Design // Randall Martin - Reissue Design // Rene Arsenault - Associate Producer // Rene Arsenault - Production Assistant // Patti Matheny - Artist Coordination // Nicholas Bennett - Packaging Manager // Jose Mangual - Percussion // Billy Ray Barber - Tuba // Verne Smith - Photography
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Composers
Gill Evans -
Performers
Elvin Jones played Percussion // Gil Evans // Taft Jordan played Trumpet // Jimmy Cobb played Drums // Frank Rehak played Trombone // Ernie Royal played Trumpet // Al Block played Flute // Eddie Caine played Flute // Paul Chambers played Bass (Vocal) // Miles Davis & His Orchestra played Trumpet // Coles, Johnny (quartet) played Trumpet // Louis Mucci played Trumpet // Dick Hixon played Trombone // Bernie Glow played Trumpet // Danny Bank played Clarinet (Bass) // Harold Feldman played Clarinet // Jose Mangual played Percussion -
Other Details
- Instruments:
- Clarinet //
- Flute //
- Percussion //
- Trombone //
- Trumpet //
- Bass (Vocal) //
- Clarinet (Bass) //
- Drums
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