Like Boiling A Frog In Water, Plus Bass (Mini Album Review)

Miles Davis – In A Silent Way (1969)

It’s the album I would always study to in college.

Being an instrumental album, the lyrics didn’t distract me. Although I seem to recall never actually getting that far along in the art history or whatever else I was supposed to be reading.

The grooves on this record subtly creep in and all of a sudden you realize, “holy shit, this is the heaviest groove I’ve ever heard.”

It’s like boiling a frog in water.

And then, all of a sudden, there’s no more studying going on.

Which didn’t matter. Though I didn’t realize it, I was actually just learning about a slightly more modern era of the history of art; the history of recorded art.

Miles Davis’ In A Silent Way.

They call this album the birth of fusion. It’s also been called “space music.”

You could call also easily call it ‘proto-funk’ ‘proto-ambient’ or any other number of vaguely descriptive, somewhat meaningless categorizations.

One of the truest geniuses of Miles was putting bands together.

However the greatest directors do it, he elicited performances, communication, listening, music that is purely transcendent, both in the general, colloquial way as well as here – like in so many other instances of Miles’ records – in terms of genre.

I guess that’s what fusion means after all; a ‘fusion’ of pre-existing genres.

But it’s really just a peak performing collection of ultimate badasses (John McLaughlin, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland, Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul, Tony Williams).

Some employing electricity, some not, all being channeled through the overarching lens of a master artist.

And what comes out is simply brilliant music that could only be categorized as ‘Miles’.

A Recommended Track would be silly, since there are only 2 on the entire album. Just do yourself a favor and set aside 39 minutes late one evening, settle in with beverage of choice (plus whatever else), and LISTEN. You will not be disappointed.