Customer Reviews

Nefertiti [Vinyl]

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All the reviews and liner notes for Nefertiti describe is as the culmination of Miles' acoustic work, from Bird to Coltrane and Cannonball, and the foreshadowing of the electric direction he was about to embark upon. Even after listening to this album 100 times, it still sounds electric to me, and that's a good thing. The symbiotic relationship between Miles and Wayne Shorter is amazing, as if they mutually created some magical new jazz instrument that could only be played in long, circular figures. It is difficult to determine where one track ends and the other begins, as the tone and tempo of the album is consistently undulating. It's easy to see why Miles turned to new, electric instruments after this album: acoustic jazz can't get any better. Buy this album, put it in your cd player and set it for shuffle and endless repeat. You'll never hear the same thing twice.

It's just plain hard to listening at this album without hearing it for what it is-the final straight ahead acoustic outing of the 60's Miles Davis Quartet. Now it's not exactly Miles didn't know what he wanted to do musically at this point-he did. All the same it was no accident that his albums after this starting carrying monkiers such as "directions in music" and,in a word this album should've too. Always a musician who preferred the company and influence of other artists and creative individuals over that of writers and critical types who looked at his music more from a visual as opposed to auditory standpoint, Miles was beginning to find the music he and his Quartet created to be colored more and more by his creative instincts and the musical interests of the listeners as opposed to those of people anylyzing the music. So even though this may qualify as the final "traditional" Miles studio album that doesn't mean it necessarily agreed with everyone's expectations.

These songs are compositionally left to the other three members of the quartert and the first two songs on the album comes from the pen of Wayne Shorter,noted as likely the strongest composer of the four which is saying a lot considering the high talent level involved. The title track is very unique for Miles and not the sort of song most people at this point would really associate with him. It's very dissonant,featuring unsual time signitures and melodies and leans even stronger into the avante garde than anything even on Miles Smiles. In fact the idea of Miles unmuted trumpet in tandem with Shorter's saxes makes for s two horned atonal symphony of sorts of the type you'd hear later on his earlier electric work. The other is "Fall",a still somewhat abstract but far more impressionistic ballad type piece that's somewhat more recognizably Miles.

Now the remaining four cuts,including another Shorter tune "Pinocchio" are more standard uptempo bop styled music,although amid all the rhythmic mayhem Tony Williams provides on his own wonderful "Hand Jive" as well as Herbie Hancock's "Madness" and "Riot" the playing of Miles and Shorter is still pretty subdued and give them the overall flavor of a "quiet fire" boiling within whatever is happening with the songs rhythmically. So this is an album that's very much about the beginnings of a strong harmonic change away from the largely ballad oriented (and more quiet) sounding standards on which Miles had built his career and more on.....well I suppose the Miles equivilant of the musical road John Coltrane took in his last few years-Miles communicating more directly with the heart and soul of listeners as opposed to their expectations. And from this point on that is more the direction Miles' music would continue to take.

Hi everyone,

it was a good buy.

The disk is amazing.....

I'm from Brazil and the product has arrived here in perfect condition!


Bye,

Tiago.