Sorcerer (album)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sorcerer
Studio album by Miles Davis

Publication
(s)

1967

Label (s) Columbia Records

Format (s)

CD, LP

Genre (s)

jazz

running time

40:17

occupation

production

Teo Macero

chronology
Miles Smiles
1967
Sorcerer Nefertiti
1968

Sorcerer is a jazz album by Miles Davis , recorded on May 16 and 24, 1967, and released by Columbia Records in 1967.

The album

After ESP (1965) and Miles Smiles (1966), Sorcerer (dt. The magician) was the third studio album of the so-called second Miles Davis quintet. As on the previous albums , the compositions were mostly by Wayne Shorter , others contributed by the band members Tony Williams and Herbie Hancock . The album begins with Shorter's Prince of Darkness , which has a "very melodic theme" and is first introduced by the two winds in unison ; Miles Davis opposes the repetition by the Shorters tenor saxophone with thematic variations: "The subsequent solo improvisations are rhythmically rather freely designed and are characterized by playing away from the thematic motif." Davis does not participate in Tony Williams' Slow Waltz Pee Wee ; It is a feature for Wayne Shorter's ballad art, who "uses multi-dimensional layering of notes [...] to subject the piece to a sensitive variation of the tone color, position, structure and tone volume, which in places is reminiscent of Stan Getz ." "Mysterious, Spanish-sounding" Masqualero describes Wießmüller "as one of the most captivating compositions that Shorter wrote". It "changes in mood and tempo from a ballad to an almost completely free aggressive piece." The title denotes an Indian cult figure, "a kind of spiritual leader who brings about his natural religious enlightenments under the influence of 'natural drugs'." Comparison described Shorter Miles' musical role in this quintet.

The Sorcerer creates a “unique ensemble feeling of collective improvisation” forms the “over-the-top conclusion” of the A side of the LP;

“The very complex and bubbly theme melody is first introduced by the tenor saxophone - Shorter phrased laconically against the flowing, swinging rhythm. In the first repetition of the theme, Miles joins from about the middle with an unusual series of swirling notes, while the second [repetition] is played through in unison throughout. Afterwards Shorter and Miles conjure up a fabulous chase from their horns on the fly , whereby Tony Williams fractures the pulse almost at will and, so to speak, constantly shifts the acoustic focus. "

On the B-side of the LP follows the “chromatically structured” Limbo , which shines “through constantly intensifying ensemble communication”. This is followed by the “prosaically performed ballad Vonetta ”, in which Miles Davis has a solo with unusual leaps in intervals, “which are strongly oriented towards the melancholy opening motif.” “It is only through Hancock's romantic piano improvisation that it becomes clear how much the entire group is here also by Ron Carters dynamic bass playing lives. ”The album closes with a two-minute“ pretty vocal addition Nothing Like You by singer and composer Bob Dorough , ”which Davis performed on August 21, 1962 with his sextet of Frank Rehak , Wayne Shorter, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb and Willie Bobo accompanied.

reception

Wießmüller counted the A-side of the LP "among the best that Miles has ever recorded, especially since it gives the impression of a suite-like sequence of compositions that show the biographical traits of the leader from the perspective of his musicians."

Critics Richard Cook & Brian Morton gave the album the second highest rating in the Penguin Guide to Jazz, as did Allmusic , where Stephen Thomas Erlewine Sorcerer described it as an album of transition, “a quiet, muted affair that rarely gets hot. […] Even when the pace picks up, [the album] lacks the density and manic energy on Miles Smiles . [...] The album points in the direction of the dense soundscapes of Miles' later work in the late 1960s. "

The titles

  1. Prince of Darkness (W. Shorter)
  2. Pee Wee (T. Williams)
  3. Masqualero (W. Shorter)
  4. The Sorcerer (H. Hancock)
  5. Limbo (W. Shorter)
  6. Vonetta (W. Shorter)
  7. Nothing Like You ( Bob Dorough ) (1962)

Trivia

The cover shows a photo of Davis' then partner Cicely Tyson , who years later (1981–1988) was his wife.

Literature / sources

  • Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide of Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .
  • Miles Davis: The Autobiography . Munich, Heyne, 2000
  • Erik Nisenson: Round About Midnight - A Portrait of Miles Davis . Vienna, Hannibal, 1985
  • Peter Wießmüller: Miles Davis - his life, his music, his records . Gauting, Oreos (Collection Jazz) 1985

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e f g h i j Wießmüller, p. 147 ff.
  2. a b Nisenson, p. 154
  3. ^ Miles Davis discography at jazzdisco.org
  4. ^ Richard Cook, Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide of Jazz on CD. 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, p. 378.
  5. a b Review of the album Sorcerer by Stephen Thomas Erlewine at Allmusic (English). Retrieved April 29, 2011.