In a Silent Way

''In a Silent Way'' is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis, released on July 30, 1969, on Columbia Records. Produced by Teo Macero, the album was recorded in one session date on February 18, 1969, at CBS 30th Street Studio in New York City. Macero edited and arranged Davis's recordings from the session to produce the album. Marking the beginning of his "electric" period, ''In a Silent Way'' has been regarded by music writers as Davis's first fusion recording, following a stylistic shift toward the genre in his previous records and live performances.

Upon its release, the album was met by controversy among music critics, particularly those of jazz and rock music, who were divided in their reaction to its experimental musical structure and Davis's electric approach. Since its initial reception, it has been regarded by fans and critics as one of Davis's greatest and most influential works. In 2001, Columbia Legacy and Sony Music released the three-disc box set ''The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions'', which includes additional tracks.Kenyon, John
Review: ''The Complete in a Silent Way Sessions''
PopMatters. Retrieved on 2010-04-01.

Background and recording

By January 1969, Davis' core working band had stabilised around Wayne Shorter on soprano saxophone, Dave Holland on bass, Chick Corea on electric piano, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. For his next studio album, Davis brought in former band members Tony Williams on drums as he wished to use his style and Herbie Hancock on additional electric piano as they had previously agreed to work with Davis on studio recordings. In the following month, the six were joined by Austrian keyboardist Josef Zawinul after Davis had called him and asked to bring musical ideas for the group, and English guitarist John McLaughlin, who had been in the United States for less than two weeks to join The Tony Williams Lifetime before Davis asked him to attend the recording session. McLaughlin had been a longtime fan of Davis, and spoke of his nervousness to the trumpeter about the prospect of recording with his idol. Among the pieces by Zawinul that Davis took a liking to was "In a Silent Way", an atmospheric piece that was titled at the suggestion of Julian "Cannonball" Adderley when the two were in the same band. Adderley wished to use the piece for his own recording but Zawinul turned him down after he learned that Davis wished to use it.

Although Davis' live performances and recent albums '' Miles in the Sky'' (1968) and ''Filles de Kilimanjaro'' (1968) had indicated his stylistic shift towards electric instruments and jazz fusion, ''In a Silent Way'' featured a full-blown electric approach by Davis.Southall, Nick
Review: ''In a Silent Way''
''Stylus Magazine''. Retrieved on 2010-04-01. It has been regarded by music writers as the first of Davis's fusion recordings, while marking the beginning of his "electric" period.O'Brien, Chip
Review: ''In a Silent Way''
PopMatters. Retrieved on 2010-04-01. It is also the first recording by Davis that was largely constructed by the editing and arrangement of producer Teo Macero, whose editing techniques have incorporated elements of classical sonata form in Davis' recordings for ''In a Silent Way''. Both tracks on the album consist of three distinct parts that could be thought of as an exposition, development, and recapitulation, with the first and last third of each track being the same piece.

''In a Silent Way'' was assembled from takes from a three-hour session from Studio B at CBS 30th Street Studio in New York City, on February 18, 1969. "Shhh/Peaceful" was composed solely by Davis, while the opening and closing section to "In a Silent Way/It's About That Time" is based on Zawinul's "In a Silent Way" which he would record in its original form in 1970 for his third solo album '' Zawinul'' (1971). After Zawinul presented the tune to the group, it was rehearsed as it was originally written, but Davis wished for it to sound more rock-oriented and stripped the various chord changes to leave a more basic melody, allowing the band to play around it from a single pedal point. McLaughlin had some difficulty playing in the manner Davis wished of him, but found his way after the trumpeter suggested he play the guitar as if he were a novice. Davis maintained the belief that Zawinul was never happy with his adaptation and believed the album would have been less successful had its original arrangement been kept. Zawinul had expressed some irritation towards the rearrangement, in particular of two chords that he believed Davis was wrong to remove as the piece lacked a greater climax than it could have had if they were retained. Zawinul claimed he was responsible for the melodic bass line and descending melody to "It's About That Time" but was not credited. He blamed Macero for this as he "always put things together so that it came out as if Miles had written it. But that's not correct".

Two days after the February 18 session, Davis returned to the studio and put down "Ghetto Walk" with drummer Joe Chambers which he intended to include on ''In a Silent Way'' with "Shhh/Peaceful" but it was later swapped for "In a Silent Way/It's About That Time". The group also played through "Early Minor", another Zawinul piece, on the day but eventually scrapped it.

Release

The album was originally released on July 30, 1969.

In 2001, Columbia Legacy and Sony Music released the three-disc box set ''The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions'', which includes the original album, additional tracks, and the unedited recordings utilized for production purposes.

In 2002, Sony Music released a 5.1 surround sound mix, produced by Bob Belden and engineered by Mark Wilder.

Reception

Peaking at number 134 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Top LPs chart, ''In a Silent Way'' became Davis's first album since 1965's ''My Funny Valentine'' to reach the chart. While it performed better commercially than most of Davis's previous work, the album's critics were divided in their reaction upon its release. Its incorporation of electric instrumentation and experimental structure have been sources of extreme controversy among jazz critics.Taruskin, Richard.
Music in the Late Twentieth Century: Fusion
. Oxford University Press: 335. vol. 5. 2009. According to ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'' (1992), Davis's recording process and producer Teo Macero's studio editing of individual recordings into separate tracks for the album "seemed near heretical by jazz standards". In his book ''Running the Voodoo Down: The Electric Music of Miles Davis'', Phil Freeman writes that rock and jazz critics at the time of the album's release were biased in their respective genres, writing "Rock critics thought ''In a Silent Way'' sounded like rock, or at least thought Miles was nodding in their direction, and practically wet themselves with joy. Jazz critics, especially ones who didn't listen to much rock, thought it sounded like rock too, and they reacted less favorably".Freeman, Phil.
Running the voodoo down: the electric music of Miles Davis
. Hal Leonard Corporation: 26–27. 2005. Freeman continues by expressing that both reactions were "rooted, at least partly, in the critic's paranoia about his place in the world", writing that rock criticism was in its early stage of existence and such critics found "reassurance" in viewing the album as having psychedelic rock elements, while jazz critics felt "betrayed" amid the genre's decreasing popularity at the time.

In a rave review, ''Rolling Stone'' writer Lester Bangs described ''In a Silent Way'' as "the kind of album that gives you faith in the future of music. It is not rock and roll, but it's nothing stereotyped as jazz either. All at once, it owes almost as much to the techniques developed by rock improvisors in the last four years as to Davis' jazz background. It is part of a transcendental new music which flushes categories away and, while using musical devices from all styles and cultures, is defined mainly by its deep emotion and unaffected originality". Bangs, Lester. . ''Rolling Stone''. November 15, 1969. Archived from th
original
on 2007-10-25. Retrieved on 2007-09-10. 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 a Silent Way'' has been regarded by fans and critics as one of Davis's best works. In a retrospective review, ''Blender'' writer K. Leander Williams called it "a proto- ambient masterpiece". Citing it as "one of Davis’s greatest achievements", Chip O'Brien of ''PopMatters'' viewed that producer Teo Macero's studio editing on the album helped Davis "embrace the marriage of music and technology". In regards to its musical significance, O'Brien wrote that ''In a Silent Way'' "transcends labels", writing "It is neither jazz nor rock. It isn’t what will eventually become known as fusion, either. It is something altogether different, something universal. There is a beautiful resignation in the sounds of this album, as if Davis is willingly letting go of what has come before, of his early years with Charlie Parker, with John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley, of his early ‘60s work, and is embracing the future, not only of jazz, but of music itself". ''Stylus Magazine'' writer Nick Southall called the album "timeless" and wrote of its influence on music, stating "The fresh modes of constructing music that it presented revolutionised the jazz community, and the shifting, ethereal beauty of the actual music contained within has remained beautiful and wonderful, its echoes heard through the last 30 years, touching dance music, electronica, rock, pop, all music". ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' has included ''In a Silent Way'' in its suggested "Core Collection". The album was also included in the book ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''.

Track listing

::* "Shhh" – 6:14
::* "Peaceful" – 5:42
::* "Shhh (Reprise)" – 6:20

::* "In a Silent Way" – 4:11
::* "It's About That Time" – 11:27
::* "In a Silent Way (Reprise)" – 4:14

Charts

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's 1969 liner notes.

Musicians

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

Production

*Teo Macero – producer
*Stan Tonkel – engineer
*Russ Payne – engineer
* Lee Friedlander – cover photo
*John G. Walter – back cover photography
*Frank Glenn – back cover notes

References

Citations

Books
* 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
Miles Beyond
*
*

External links

*

"Jazz Annual: Miles Davis/Tony Williams"
by Robert Christgau

"Electric Miles: A Look at the ''In a Silent Way'' and ''On the Corner'' Sessions"
by Victor Svorinich

{{DEFAULTSORT:In a Silent Way
1969 albums
Albums produced by Teo Macero
Albums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio
Avant-garde jazz albums
Columbia Records albums
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Jazz fusion albums by American artists
Miles Davis albums
Instrumental albums