Miles Davis - E.S.P. (1965)
Artist Miles Davis
Title: E.S.P.
Source: Original CDDA
Release Date 1968
Recorded at Columbia Studios, Los Angeles, California
from January 20-22, 1965. Originally released on Columbia (9150).
Label Sony Columbia/Legacy
Re-Issue: Audio CD (October 13, 1998) Columbia/Legacy 65681
Genre: Jazz
Style: Hard Bop Post-Bop
Number of Discs 1
Size Torrent: 291 Mb
Artwork included
Star Rating ***** Five stars
Extractor: EAC 0.99 prebeta 4
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Codec: Flac 1.2.1; Level 8
Single File.flac, Eac.log,
File.cue Multiple wav file with Gaps (Noncompliant)
Accurately ripped (confidence 36)
Track List
1. E.S.P. (Shorter)
2. Eighty-One (Carter, Davis)
3. Little One (Hancock)
4. R.J. (Carter)
5. Agitation (Davis)
6. Iris (Shorter)
7. Mood (Carter, Davis)
Personnel
Miles Davis - Trumpet
Wayne Shorter - Tenor Saxophone
Herbie Hancock - Piano
Ron Carter - Double Bass
Tony Williams - Drums
Listen To Sample
http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B00000DCH2/ref=pd_krex_dp_a
youtube video/audio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfjaMkxItLs
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw2MI_H7KQI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeRZPQS0Q98
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM-g8O2nCt4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ehfXJkmbL8&feature=related
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review
Recorded in January 1965, E.S.P. is the first album by what is often referred to as Miles Davis second great quintet. The quintet comprising Davis, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams would be the most long-lived of all Davis's groups, and this was their first studio recording together.
Unlike the majority of previous Davis albums, E.S.P. consisted entirely of new compositions written by members of the group. Despite the profusion of new material, only one tune ("Agitation") is known to have appeared in the group's live performances. Two versions of this tune appear on the Plugged Nickel recordings from December 1965; it was played live as late as the fall of 1969.
"Little One" might be best known for being revisited on Hancock's landmark album, Maiden Voyage, recorded a few weeks later. This version is somewhat more embryonic; Carter's bass is halting, and Davis and Shorter state the theme with winding, interlocking contrapuntal lines that evoke Davis and Coltrane's version of "Round Midnight". Hancock's solo on Carter's composition, "Eighty-One", also presages his work on that LP - particularly its title track. This is reflected in the liner notes of the 1999 reissue.
Shortly thereafter, Shorter's compositions would begin to dominate the Quintet's recordings, though here he contributes only two of the seven songs. The title track is reminiscent of Jackie McLean's "Little Melonae", which Davis had recorded with John Coltrane in 1956. "Iris", by contrast, is another Coltrane-like ballad, not too dissimilar to "Infant Eyes" on Shorter's Speak No Evil album.
At over forty-eight minutes, E.S.P. is one of the longest jazz albums of its period. Subsequent Davis recordings would be even longer.
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I had the misfortune of buying "Miles Smiles," the album recorded after this one, way before my ears were ready for it. As a result, I disliked that album and got turned off of Miles' second great quintet. Since then I've come to understand post-bop ironically through the work of the sidemen on this album (Wayne Shorter in particular) and I recently picked up this album. It blew my mind. I remembered this group and its musical philosophy as uninteresting, as they tended towards dispensing with the chord changes on almost every tune. Thus there was a quality of sameness (to the uneducated or closed ear) to the approach of all the tunes. But that preconception was totally blown out of the water when I listened to this album. Rather than sameness, the compositions are harmonically varied and go in fascinating, unconventional directions. This, to me, is what jazz is about: the search for new ways to express melody, rhythm, and harmony, while retaining beauty and emotion. This album succeeds brilliantly in that quest, particularly Wayne Shorter's compositions. The title cut essentially defines a new set of rules for chord motion, and "Iris" is one of the most beautiful tunes Wayne has ever written while defying any and every cliche of modern harmony. "Eighty-One" looks at the blues as a song form and alters the conventional harmony just enough to retain its integrity and flow while creating new interest. "Mood" returns to Miles' signature brooding, slow minor-key playing without sounding like a copy of anything he had played before in this vein.
As for the playing itself, the level of musicianship on display from Davis, Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams, is at an expected high. A certain telepathy existed between the members of the rhythm section (yes, E.S.P. ha ha ha) making this band one of the most flexible units in jazz history. There may be a couple of rough moments (Hancock in particular doesn't seem quite as comfortable with the new harmonic territory, though he would absolutely master it and pioneer so many options for the piano in the future) but Miles lived for these rough moments because they showed the human element one must bring to jazz. One advisory for those familiar only with Miles' early work: his playing on this record reflects the changing ideas of the jazz scene and isn't conventionally "pretty" like it is on Kind Of Blue. He often uses the upper register and plays jagged lines that sound strange at first. But when you acquire a taste for this new Miles (and if you follow his career, it's necessary to acquire a taste for "new" Miles many times, as he was constantly reinventing himself) you realize this is some of the most musical and advanced playing of his career. So be forewarned that this is magnificent music but it is challenging to the casual listener. There are a couple of ways to get used to it though; try Miles's music from the early 60s leading up to this album, or try Wayne Shorter's masterpiece "Speak No Evil" from about a month earlier with similar personnel. It takes time to appreciate this album's depth but it is well worth it to do so.
