Miles Smiles
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''Miles Smiles'' is an album by American
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
musician
Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...
, released on February 16, 1967 by
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
. It was recorded by Davis and his second quintet at Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City on October 24 and October 25, 1966. It is the second of six albums recorded by Davis' second great quintet, which featured tenor saxophonist
Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (August 25, 1933 – March 2, 2023) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Shorter came to mainstream prominence in 1959 upon joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, for whom he eventually became the primary comp ...
, pianist
Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...
, bassist
Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy Awards, and is also a Cello, cellist who has reco ...
, and drummer Tony Williams.


Music

''Miles Smiles'' showcases Davis' deeper exploration of modal performance with looser forms, tempos, and
meters The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...
. Although the album did not follow the conventions of bop, neither did it follow the formlessness of
free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...
. According to
musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...
Jeremy Yudkin, ''Miles Smiles'' falls under the
post-bop Post-bop is a jazz term with several possible definitions and usages.Yudkin, Jeremy (2007), p. 125 It has been variously defined as a musical period, a musical genre, a musical style, and a body of music, sometimes in different chronological perio ...
subgenre, which he defines as "an approach that is abstract and intense in the extreme, with space created for rhythmic and coloristic independence of the drummer—an approach that incorporated modal and chordal harmonies, flexible form, structured choruses, melodic variation, and
free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any general rules, instead following the intuition of its performers. The term can refer to both a technique—employed by any musician in any genre—and as a recognizable genre of ...
."
Music theorist Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the " rudiments", that ...
Keith Waters writes that the album "accentuated the quintet's connections to both the hard bop tradition and the
avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
." On three tracks from this album—"Orbits", "Dolores", and "Ginger Bread Boy"—
pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...
Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...
takes the unusual liberty of dispensing with left-hand chords and playing only right-hand lines. "Freedom Jazz Dance" has more conventional accompaniment from the piano, although the quintet altered
Eddie Harris Eddie Harris (October 20, 1934 – November 5, 1996) was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-k ...
' composition by inserting additional bars between the melodic phrases of the piece, as well as performing the piece at a slightly faster tempo.


"Footprints"

Wayne Shorter's composition "Footprints" was first recorded for his album ''
Adam's Apple The Adam's apple is the protrusion in the neck formed by the angle of the thyroid cartilage surrounding the larynx, typically visible in men, less frequently in women. The prominence of the Adam's apple increases in some men as a secondary mal ...
'', but on ''Miles Smiles'', the correlation between African-based (or ), and is playfully explored. Drummer Tony Williams freely moves from swing, to the three-over-two cross rhythm—and to its correlative. The rhythmic approach of Williams, and bassist Ron Carter, strongly suggests compound quadruple meter (), rather than triple meter (), because the ground of four main beats is maintained throughout the piece. The bass switches to at 2:20. Carter’s figure is known as tresillo in Afro-Cuban music and is the duple-pulse correlative of the figure. This may have been the first overt expression of systemic, African-based cross-rhythm used by a straight ahead jazz group. During Davis’ first trumpet solo, Williams shifts to a jazz ride pattern while Carter continues the bass line.


The Davis "book"

Three of the album's compositions made it to Davis' live "book". "Dolores" is known from a single recording in the spring of 1967. "Ginger Bread Boy" and "Footprints" were played much more frequently. Early live versions of "Ginger Bread Boy" (from the spring and summer of 1966) retained the melody of Heath's original version. The melody on the studio version is somewhat different (presumably changed by Davis), and ensuing versions often retain this change. "Ginger Bread Boy" was played as late as the summer of 1969. "Footprints" appears on '' Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1'', '' 1969 Miles: Festiva de Juan Pins'', '' Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2'', and unofficial live recordings from the Fillmore West in April 1970.


Reception and legacy

''Miles Smiles'' received critical acclaim in 1967, and was praised for its original compositions, the quintet's chemistry and playing, and Davis' phrasing.Baraka, Imamu Amiri (1967).
Review: ''Miles Smiles''
. ''
Down Beat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...
'': volume 34. 61.
'' CODA'' editor John Norris praised the quintet's "mastery of sensitive interaction" and wrote that they "must be one of the most beautifully integrated groups ever to play jazz". Norris noted that "Every man is listening intently at all times, responding sensitively to mutual hints and directions", and stated "The empathy between Carter, Williams and Hancock, the way they anticipate each other, push each other, support each other, and phrase together - all this without a sign of strain - is really amazing". He cited the Davis-penned "Circle" as the album's highlight and wrote that the composition "defines the excellence of the group... a masterpiece".Norris, John (1967).
Review: ''Miles Smiles''
. '' CODA'': volume 8. 16–17.
Nat Hentoff Nathan Irving Hentoff (June 10, 1925 – January 7, 2017) was an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media. Hentoff was a columnist for ''The Village Voice'' from 1958 to 2009. F ...
of ''
Stereo Review ''Sound & Vision'' was an American magazine, purchased by AVTech Media Ltd. (UK) in March 2018, covering home theater, audio, video and multimedia consumer products. Before 2000, it had been published for most of its history as ''Stereo Review' ...
'' called Tony Williams and Ron Carter "prodigious technicians and restless", while noting "Though tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter does not quite reach the incandescent performance level attained by his colleagues, he is inspired by them to deliver some of his most inventive playing on records so far."Hentoff, Nat (1967)
Review: ''Miles Smiles''
. ''
Stereo Review ''Sound & Vision'' was an American magazine, purchased by AVTech Media Ltd. (UK) in March 2018, covering home theater, audio, video and multimedia consumer products. Before 2000, it had been published for most of its history as ''Stereo Review' ...
'': volume 18. 61–62.
Hentoff cited the quintet as Davis' "most stimulating rhythm team so far" and concluded with a discourse on its potential significance, writing that: Martin Williams, writing for the '' Saturday Review'', called it "an exceptional recital, Davis' best album in some time, and clear evidence of his continuing dedication as an improvising musician", while stating that it is "directly in the tradition of the 'experimental' Davis recordings, the tradition established by '' Kind of Blue'' in 1959—an album whose implications jazz musicians are still exploring—and continued by '' ESP'' of 1965—an album which seemed to me much less successful". Williams viewed each player as in their best form, particularly Williams and Carter, noting "their superb contributions are beyond the words I could muster for so brief an account as this one".Williams, Martin (1967).
Review: ''Miles Smiles''
. '' Saturday Review'': volume 50. 187.
''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' similarly complimented both musicians and stated "Williams expertly helps build the mood and
arter Arter is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Harry Arter * Jared Maurice Arter * Kingsley Arter Taft * Philip and Uriah Arter, after whom Philip and Uriah Arter Farm is named * Robert Arter * Solomon Arter, after whom Solomon Art ...
has a sure feel for the note that underlines the swirl of chords".Columnist (April 21, 1967)
Review: ''Miles Smiles''
''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
''. Retrieved on 2010-11-03.
Reviewing the record's 1992 CD reissue, '' Q'' called ''Miles Smiles'' "essential...one of the quintet's best albums" and cited "Footprints" and "Dolores" as "all-time great jazz compositions".Product Page: ''Miles Smiles''
Muze. Retrieved on 2010-11-03.
''
Musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...
'' cited ''Miles Smiles'' as one of "the great quintet albums" and wrote that it "has lost none of its cutting edge ... Has any band ever grooved harder than Miles and company do on 'Orbits', 'Dolores' or 'Ginger Bread Boy'--and has Miles ever penned a more touching ballad than 'Circle'?"
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
editor
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
praised the quintet's compositions as "memorable, yet open-ended and nervy, setting (and creating) standards for modern bop that were emulated well into the new century".Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (November 1, 2001). Review: ''Miles Smiles''
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
. Retrieved on 2010-11-03.
Erlewine viewed that the quintet "really began to hit their stride, delving deeper into the more adventurous, exploratory side of their signature sound ... all their strengths are in full bloom", and elaborated on the music's accessibility: ''
Down Beat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...
'' complimented its "simpler, drier, more austere sound" and stated "the unrehearsed, rough ''Miles Smiles'' holds up so well simply because it was more of a jazz record ... Davis' exquisite waltz, `Circle,' showcases his lyrical, muted-trumpet playing".


Track listing

Columbia – CS 9401


Personnel


Musicians

*
Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
*
Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (August 25, 1933 – March 2, 2023) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Shorter came to mainstream prominence in 1959 upon joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, for whom he eventually became the primary comp ...
tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...
*
Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...
piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
*
Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy Awards, and is also a Cello, cellist who has reco ...
double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
* Tony Williams
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...


Production

* ProducerTeo Macero * Recording engineer – Frank Laico *Cover photography – Vernon Smith


References

{{Authority control 1967 albums Miles Davis albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Teo Macero Albums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio 1960s instrumental albums