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In A Silent Way | 
| Manufacturer: Columbia/Legacy
Category: Digital Music Album
Buy New: $1.98
Rating:  92 reviews
Sales Rank: 257
Genre: jazz-music
Media: MP3 Download
Running Time: 0 Minutes
ASIN: B00136Q6D0
Release Date: August 20, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
Truly a "silent way less travelled" October 7, 2008
mianfei
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The rise of rock music in the late 1960s as the Boom Generation came of age had a profound influence on trumpeter Miles Davis. Eager to avoid being seen as trapped in a time-warp, but also unwilling to merely copy what rock artists were doing, over the course of the next five years Davis created a body of work that is by any standards his most lasting legacy and which led eventually to his induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005/2006.
In contrast to later works like A Tribute to Jack Johnson, "In a Silent Way" does not have any funky grooves or distorted electric guitar lines. Instead, the main instruments are three electric pianos, Davis' trumpet and Wayne Shorter's tenor saxophone, which combine to produce a sound that is remarkably slow, relaxed and touching all though the album's thirty-five minutes. Only very rarely does Davis' trumpet rise aboive the ambience of the pianos and occasional organ, but that does not detract from the flow on the first track "Shhh/Peaceful", which is really apt in its title given the furor of the time with the Vietnam War and the development of hard rock.
On the second track, "In a Silent Way/It's About That Time", Davis' trumpet is much more prominent, but the undulating, slow, piano work that predates Future Days' use of this type of rhythms is still omnipresent. (Tony Williams' drumming is also something of a precursor to the more celebrated work of Jaki Liebzeit). The later part, "It's About That Time", is the nearest to "rock" but is still beautifully quiet and simple with the skeletal guitar lines doing no more than they have to. Near the end, akin to Future Days' title track, the band moves once more towards a more groove-oriented sound without losing the amazing flow of melody that had been achieved earlier on the record.
All in all, "In a Silent Way" is an undoubted landmark that showed the use of rock instruments and recording techniques could achieve quite different effects - much more atmpsheric and melodic - that had ever been known before. From ambient to shoegaze, the influence of this recoridng cannot be doubted. Moreove,r the fact that it dented the Billboard Top 200 Pop Albums showed Davis' most important cultural role was only beginning.
40 Years Later, this music still sounds ahead of its time September 19, 2008
Michael Morales (Los Angeles, CA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Most musicians go their entire careers without ever coming up with one truly original idea.
Miles Davis was the opposite, a man who never allowed himself, or his music, to get too comfortable, to get stagnant.
Sometimes the new directions he went were exciting and enjoyable to listen to, sometimes they weren't but he always pushed the envelope.
This beautiful album stands as one of the great triumphs of his life.
This is music that is as complex as any that he ever created but still is accessible and pleasing to the ear. As a result, it is music that you can listen to in any situation and enjoy.
It rewards close listening, repeated listenings yet still can function as very enjoyable background music for reading, drawing, studying etc.
The first thing you will notice about this album is the very pleasing sound of the rhythm sections comprised of Three Keyboardists, Guitar and Tony Williams fine cymbal work.
These new sounds, unlike any other in jazz up to that point, creates a dreamy, surreal soundscape which draws you in and over which the soloists can create their beautiful statements.
The two tracks both do a great job of building tension and mood. My favorite part of the album is during the track It's About That Time in which a two bar bass line groove is used to build energy throughout the guitar and soprano sax solos until Miles solo where the drummer Tony Williams goes completely nuts for a few measures. After the chill out groove of the prior music it really is a satisfying and beautiful moment.
This music is some of the most treasured I own.
I've listened to it sober, I've listened to it stoned. I've listened to it in headphones (often!) and on high end sound systems. I've listened to it laying in bed at night or reading the newspaper during the day.
Whatever the situation , it always puts me where I need to be.
In A Silent Way September 18, 2008
Morton (Colorado)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Miles Davis-In A Silent Way *****
Released in 1969, In A Silent Way was Miles' first real fusion jazz album. Yet another way in which he would change the world of jazz and music for I think it was the fifth time. Where Miles in the Sky, and Filles de Kilimanjaro his two previous albums hinted toward where he was going with In A Silent Way, this took it to a whole different level. A truly electric jazz album, In A Silent Way introduced the world to one of the great guitar players, John McLaughlin. But more than that it introduced us to the three electric keyboard team of Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Joe Zawinul. All three of which were to become three of the most influential keyboardist/composers to emerge from the time.
The trio co-wrote the stunning title track, 'In A Silent Way' which consists of two parts interrupted by 'Its About That Time' which only adds to the brilliance of the piece. It is a just under twenty minute piece of jazz bliss. Miles wails through out, but does so subtly. Wayne Shorter and Dave Holland take the album to new heights through their work on the title cut. Hollands bass is some of better playing heard through out the album while Shorters Soprano Saxophone work is nothing to bark at. Mclaughlin's beautiful guitar work closes the album and does so chillingly.
'Shhh/Peaceful' which is a stunning eighteen minute opener, and while not as memorable as the title cut, or as famous it is still one of Davis' strongest pieces.
In A Silent Way is one of fusion jazz, and Miles Davis' finest hours. A truly original set of work that could find a pleasant home in any collection of jazz. Highly recommended.
Exhuberance at low dynamic with effortless playing August 5, 2008
Christopher Culver
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
IN A SILENT WAY marks Miles Davis' turn to fusion, with a fully electric lineup backing up Davis' horn, Wayne Shorter's saxophone and Tony Williams' drumming. John McLaughlin plays electric guitar, Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea perform electric piano, Joe Zawinul appears on organ, and Dave Holland makes a transition to electric bass. Yet, one shouldn't expect the wild rambuctiousness and muddy wash of sound that Davis settled on with the infamous 1969 record BITCHES BREW. As the title suggests, here things are very calm indeed.
As Davis' new electric explorations were becoming somewhat meandering, producer Ted Macero came up with a novel way of editing the results of the long recording sessions. Each track on the CD has three parts, with an opening tune, another one eventually following, and then a verbatim return to the opening. This ABA structure has been compared to sonata form and works surprisingly well. Macero's production is excellent: all instruments are so clearly delineated and there's plenty of room in the sound.
The first track, "Shh/Peaceful" should, of course, be titled "Shh/Peaceful/Shh". On "Shh", subdued bass, piano and drums set things off, and then Davis' horn enters with a sly little melody. Once the second tune comes in, things get busier, but it seems more an organic develop of the first than a whole new jam session, and the dynamic remains fairly low. It is on "Peaceful" that Shorter and McLaughlin have room to explore their instrument. Eventually, this middle section fades out, and we return straight to the same recording of "Shh". Now, I get rather irked when ECM fills out some of its discs with an identical repeat of an earlier track (e.g. Arvo Part's ARBOS), since it feels like you're getting less than you paid for. But Macero's repetition here just seems so natural.
The following "In A Silent Way/It's About that Time" is also slow-fast-slow. It opens with delicate guitar over the calmest piano tones, with Davis' horn at its most effortless. If this isn't the ultimate origin of the ECM sound, I don't know what is. The middle section is active, even bouncy, but again at restrained dynamic. The bassline that pops up here is amusingly reminiscent of Sade's 1985 hit "Smooth Operator". And it's hear that Williams gets to really have the spotlight.
The reason I would place IN A SILENT WAY among the very greatest albums is because Davis and company succeed in creating music that is so chillout and low-key and yet so very musically rich. It offers as great rewards for someone looking for some atmosphere music in home entertaining as it does the jazz afficionado listening hard to the instrumentalists' development.
A TRUE MASTERPIECE June 27, 2008
COMPUTERJAZZMAN (Cliffside Park, New Jersey United States)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
THIS 1969 RECORDING FROM MILES DAVIS WAS THE FIRST "TRUE" ALL FUSION MUSIC ALBUM EVERMADE, FEATURING A WHO'S WHO OF THE ARTISTS THAT WENT ON TO DEFINE AND INVENT THAT GENRE; JOE ZAWINUL, JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CHICK COREA, HERBIE HANCOCK, TONY WILLIAMS, AND OTHER LUMINARIES. THIS IS A BREAKTHROUGH RECORDING, MADE A YEAR EARLIER THAN THE MUCH MORE HERALDED BITCHES' BREW REOCRDINGS. DEFINING MOMENT IN JAZZ MUSIC, WHEN IT CORSSED THE BRIDGE TO INCORPORATE ALL THE ELEMENTS OF JAZZ, ROCK, POLYRHYTHMS, AND WORLD MUSIC. TWO TRACKS, EACH ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES LONG, THIRTY EIGHT MINUTES ALTOGETHER OF BRILLIANCE.
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