In a Silent Way by Miles

I am a rock and roll guy, but this is a jazz disc that I simply have fallen in love with. I've gotten some other Miles, but I can't seem to find anything else like this one. Any other suggestions for anything else like this?

Thanks !!

 

It is quite unique. Bitches Brew has some similarly moody pieces. There's also a Bill Laswell remix album called Panthalassa that includes remixes of in a Silent Way tracks - worth a listen.

You might also like to check out some Weather Report, as Joe Zawinul (founder of WR) wrote the piece. He also did a version of it on his self-titled solo album, and I think WR did the piece live.

 

I recommend Miles' A Tribute to Jack Johnson, which is in the same fusion-esque vein and actually rocks pretty hard (at least side one.)

 

Also, get the Complete In a Silent Way box set. Simply stunning! Certainly get Bitches Brew or better yet the complete Bitches Brew box set as well! So amazing.

 

Yourmusic has a good price on the 3CD Complete In a Silent Way box at $18, free shipping.

[I'm not affiliated with the company, just thought you should know. They have many of the Miles Davis titles]

 

I had looked at earlier Miles (and I have Miles Smiles and Filles de Kilimanjaro, but they are both more typical jazz discs) and I just looked at Jack Johnson today and decided that would be next.

 

Check out the SACD if you get a chance. It's beautiful.

I second the vote for A TRIBUTE TO JACK JOHNSON. It's my favorite Miles. I friend of mine, now deceased, introduced it to me by calling it "chaser music." He said he'd put it on at a party when it got really late. "Only your real friends will stick around," he'd say. He was right.

 

In Grace Slick's bio she stated that this was one of her fave lps to listen to tripping in SF back in the Jefferson Airplane days.. Hey, I dunno! I just remembered that....

 

In a Silent Way would probably lend itself to listening during altered states, if that was your bent. I think it was the first album in Miles catalog that really started to get away from conventional jazz structures and incorporate rosk elements (although Filles uses some electric piano). After that, it was full on psychedelic fusion from miles. Jack Johnson is a lot more funky than Silent Way, IMO.

My personal ranking of fusion-era Miles is In a Silent Way, with Agharta/Pangaea joining it at the peak, followed by Jack Johnson and Bitches Brew.

 

Great album, the surround mix on the SACD is good too, good sound, good use of the rear speakers, not just ambience.

 

I support what others have said regarding the 3 CD sessions boxed set, and the multichannel SACD. The rehearsal takes in the boxed set are very interesting, though not as compelling as the album itself.

Also I would recommend Weather Report's very first self titled album (they also released a self titled ablum in the early 80s, I don't mean that one). It is a similar sort of acoustic Fusion that for me is very soothing. Check out the track Tears, it is very nice stuff.

 

Definitely get the In A Silent Way SACD if you are SACD-enabled. If not, the standard remastered CD is very good. After In A Silent Way, I recommend Bitches Brew, and if you are ready for something really off the beaten path, try On the Corner.

 

Kevin, I see you have the Pioneer DV59ai, so I also recommend the In A Silent Way SACD. It sounded fine on my DV47ai.

 

I love the album and the multi-channel mix on the SACD is excellent.

 

The "Complete Jack Johnson Sessions" boxset is WELL worth the cash IMO. Some of the best stuff done during those sessions was left off the album!

 

JACK JOHNSON is a good second disc for fans of IN A SILENT WAY. After that I'd suggest the one-two punch of AGHARTA and PANGAEA. I consider these last two titles before his extended sabbatical to be the crowning statements of his electric period.

Don't worry about AGHARTA and PANGAEA not being remastered. Those two two-disc sets sound pretty good as is.

 

I have only been listenning to Miles for about a year (hey, sorry....I am a R&R guy who is just getting in to jazz at age 46!).

Anyway, I did try to go from In a Silent Way (I really like it) to Bitches Brew, and well....I am still trying to "get" Bitches Brew. I find IaSW very listenable for a jazz neophyte, but BB is a horse of a different color.

I will track down the Jack Johnson disc mentioned.

BTW, YMMV!

Brian

 

I've been trying to "get" Bitches Brew for close to 20 years now and it still hasn't happened. I love In A Silent Way, but the chaos takes over on Bitches Brew....way too much going on at the same time!

In other words, you can appreciate In A Silent Way as an accessible peak Miles reached, without the necessity of trying to love everything he did.

 

It also has a chunk of In A Silent Way edited into it.

 

As does IN A SILENT WAY.

 

Good stuff. I have a few discs on the way now. (I didn't know about AGHARTA/PANGAEA, I'll have to look those ones up.)

Yeah, I just found out that there's a multichannel IASW on SACD. I have the remastered CD, but this is tempting!

 

Does anyone know if there are plans to remaster Agharta and Pangaea? I'm surprised they haven't been redone yet.

 

Is the SACD really that much better than the remastered CD? I'm torn between getting the complete IASW sessions and the SACD (I can get both for the same price)

 

IIRC, AGHARTA and PANGAEA were remastered for the Japanese LP-sleeve reissues, which included a bit more music. I believe a forum member said the sonic differences weren't significant. AGHARTA, PANGAEA and THE COMPLETE CONCERT 1964 were the best sounding of the old Columbia Miles Davis CDs anyway.

I assume we'll see a completist TOKYO CONCERTS box, probably six discs, comprising the material that was edited down to the four LP/CDs. I say six discs because there's a two-disc bootleg called BETWEEN AGHARTA AND PANGAEA featuring the material edited out.