Davis, Miles - Nefertiti CD (expanded) (Mega Blowout Sale)
SKU
28-SBMK769664.2
"Nefertiti, one of 1967's most interesting collections of music, is a landmark album and unquestionably one of the finest efforts by Miles and his superior cast of players.
The album is a rarity for the group in a few ways- Miles does not contirubte a piece to it, nor does Ron Carter, and allowed the mature songwriting of Wayne Shorter,("Fall," "Pinnochio," the title track) and the blossoming art of Herbie Hancock ("Madness," and "Riot") and even Tony Williams ("Hand Jive") to take center stage. The results are a delicious mix of emotional ballads from Shorter and harder edged up-tempo gems from Hancock and Williams, as well as Shorter's "Pinocchio."
The album is ripe with the emotion and restlessness that drove the group to greater heights. Shorter's ballads are among the most beautiful he wrote for the group, and each having hummable themes to it, as well. The lyrical talents of Miles and Wayne are augmented by Hancock, who is a much stronger presence on this album than on their prior efforts. Carter and Williams make strong, supple (though never conventional) grooves that allow the soloists to freely sing their hearts out. "Fall" and the title track are among the band's finest lyrical moments ever captured.
The up-tempo numbers are no less astounding, encouraging and allowing Carter and Williams to roam free- exploring, and breaking, the boundaries that the traditional constraints of their instruments offered. In many cases, Carter and Williams are equal parts melody and soloist within the ensemble playing, as Hancock lays low and carries the tune's theme.
Both Hancock (who really comes into his own on the album) and Williams' enthusiastic playing shows their young age, and the freedom they must have felt within the group. One can easily hear Hancock's wheels turning on his tracks, and can understand how easy the next step to electronic keyboards was for him. These songs beg for them, and would have further enhanced them. Williams' effort is a showcase for his amazing talents, but while he is the heartbeat of the group, he never allows himself to consciously outshine the ensemble like he easily could have.
"Nefertiti" is noteworthy as it would turn out to be the last fully acoustic lp Miles would ever do, and what a sendoff acoustic jazz is given. The band was clearly restless on this lp, and that tension heightens the already powerful slate of numbers played, and also clearly foreshadows what "Miles in the Sky" and "Filles de Kilmanjaro" would offer..."-Sean Kelley