The Supernova that Was Jazz-Rock Fusion

In 1963 Miles began a search for a new group of young musicians to work with (he always received quite a boost in inspiration with the new ideas the young bloods would bring in.) 22-year old Herbie Hancock was a shoe-in due to his rocket rise to fame with the 1962 monster hit, "Watermelon Man" from his debut album, Takin' Off .  25-year old Ron Carter had been making a mark while gigging during his formal training from the Eastman School of Music (graduating in 1959) and the Manhattan School of Music (1961). 17-year old drumming phenom Anthony "Tony" Williams III was a lesser known quantity, thus his use on only half the tracks on Seven Steps to Heaven.  Miles first attempt also tested out drummer Frank Butler, tenor saxophonist George Coleman, and multi-instrumental phenom, Victor Feldman (then 29-years old). This is the quintet that toured extensively in 1963, covering many of Davis' classic tunes with a fresh, new, highly kinetic approach. It is also the ...

  MILES DAVIS  In a Silent Way  (Recorded in February of 1969; released July 30.) In a way, a more accessible album than  Bitches Brew ,  In a Silent Way  offered the Miles listener a gentler show of transition from the exclusive world of jazz into the world of pop-rock-funk-jazz fusion. Enlisting the contributions of hot shot young bloods Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, John McLaughlin, and Joe Zawinal, Miles continued to rely on bassist Dave Holland and saxophonist Wayne Shorter as well as recent band stalwart, Chick Corea. The biggest development with In a Silent Way came in the form of giving Columbia Records producer Teo Macero the green light to employ engineering thus taking the "live" sound out of the music and creating a fabricated, even stylized and/or fabricated music. (Teo was a big fan and student of classical music formats, thus the three movements, exposition, development, and recapitulation, used in the reconstruction of Miles' band's studio ...