Miles Davis
In A Silent Way

"In a Silent Way" by Miles Davis can be considered as the prelude to that "groundbreaking" album that was the double "Bitches Brew" back in 1969. If "Bitches Brew", which among other things I greatly appreciate, has a flashier allure from a certain point of view, "In A Silent Way" is a great album where the intensity of the compositions is always controlled, rational, it is a "quiet running."

It is an album that, despite featuring the introduction of new instruments like the piano and the electric guitar and the Hammond organ, still remains quite distant from the fusion that would develop in the following years, more rhythmic and at times imbued with funk and African rhythms (like "Bitches Brew"). "In a Silent Way" is characterized by two lengthy compositions (18 minutes) that see an alternation of crescendos and diminuendos, of calm passages and sudden but always controlled surges; there is a recurrence of themes, and the compositional structure, which seems "circular," stays in the mind effortlessly. Very calm and not very virtuosic, it creates an atmosphere that almost feels magical and of "anticipation," in my opinion a very psychedelic climate at some points. My dad called it "the jazz version of Pink Floyd." I don't know if everyone will agree with this statement, but I find it truthful.

Played by great musicians, including Chick Corea and Joe Zawinul, it is an album that in its seemingly "quiet" progression (hence the title) is at times "nervous" and very whimsical. The new instrumentation provides greater sonic depth, but the dynamics and the mood remain purely "jazz", in the sense of improvisation, freedom, and limitation at the same time, with complex harmonies.

I liked it from the first listen, and it may seem strange to you that, after listening to albums of psychedelia, progressive, and fusion like Weather Report, this album of almost forty years ago seemed to me like a refreshing breath of fresh air, something new.