Quiet Nights [Original recording remastered]

Miles Davis | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 1, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Sbme Special Mkts.
• ASIN: B0012GN38W
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,796 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #73 in Music > Jazz > Orchestral Jazz

Track Listings

1. Song No. 2

2. Once Upon a Summertime

3. Aos Pes da Cruz

4. Song No. 1

5. Wait Till You See Her

6. Corcovado

7. Summer Night

8. The Time of the Barracudas [*]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Tale of Two Albums, March 20, 2001

By 

D. Jobe - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Quiet Nights (Audio CD)

Ah, the poor lamented 'Quiet Nights.' An album I recently saw referred to as the "wicked step-child" of Miles' output. And here it is, re-mastered and souped up with a beautiful new set of liner notes (which, as it happens, have little nice to say about it). The album that Miles decryed instantly, that sent Gil lamented, that caused Columbia to rethink the strategy of the Miles-Gil teamups. But is it really all that bad?

As it turns out, no. If this album were made by, say, Frank Sanchez and the Red Cloud Rumblers it would be remembered (if it were remembered at all) as a bit too-short middle of the road excursion into Bosso Nova. The problem is that this was the follow up (of sorts) to 'Sketches of Spain' and it was by Miles Davis and Gil Evans, they of 'Miles Ahead' 'Porgy and Bess' and the aforementioned Spanish excursion. So it is a huge letdown, though Miles gets a few good moments. Really though, this shouldn't have been released. Many of the tracks were pieced together by Teo Macero (to Miles' horror) and even then they only had half an album. Columbia let that sit in the vaults for a couple of years, then tacked on "Summer Nights" which Evans had no involvement with whatsoever. Strangely, it is here that the album gets interesting.

The song (6:03 long, by the way, not 3:19 as the cover says...the original cover has it right on the inside jacket!) was a leftover from the brief quartet sessions of April 1963 that produced one half of 'Seven Steps to Heaven' (yes, I said Quartet...the cd gets it wrong again in listing George Coleman as playing). The song is great cool bop, and it's always a joy to hear Miles pull out his mute. Here the original album ended, but now we get the REAL treat.

Admittedly, you probably won't want to put "The Time of the Barracudas" on the same level as 'Miles Ahead' but compared to 'Quiet Nights' it is invigorating. Miles and Gil both sound more into it, and the piece has some wonderful passages, especially early on where the interplay between Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams and Ron Carter is unreal. Williams, in fact, is the central thing that makes this a minor-league gem. His drumming propels, pummels, and even eases throughout the course of this work. One only wishes this group would have spent more time here, and perhaps developed the true album that seems to want to come out.

So in the end you have the tale of two albums: one that shouldn't have been released but was, and one that should have but wasn't. Ultimately I can think of worse ways to spend twelve dollars, and if you're a Miles fan you'll have to have it (just for the last two songs). But most will want to let 'Quiet Nights' simply rest in peace.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't believe the naysayers, December 21, 2004

By 

sirbaihu - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quiet Nights (Audio CD)

I read a bunch of quite negative reviews here which base most of their negativity on details extraneous to the music, like "Miles said this" or "The studio dates that." I've liked Miles for almost twenty years; I have many of his albums, including the officially "good" ones, and Quiet Nights remains one of my favorites of his or of anyone's. It is a project like Sketches of Spain, with a softer, more sensual, and darker (night-time) feel. I have always thought the cover expresses the mood of the album well. I feel as if I've stepped out of a Jobim cocktail party onto a night patio overlooking the lights of Rio de Janeiro when I hear it. Whatever its liner note details, this is an album made by Miles in his prime, and Gil Evans in his prime, and it doesn't matter that it's twenty-seven minutes long (or short) unless you are the kind of person who thinks small paintings are necessarily worse than big ones and short books are worse than long ones. There is no softer or warmer Miles album than this. Don't be afraid of this album. Miles doesn't have to sound "cool" all the time.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Despite the criticism it got, Quiet Nights is a masterpiece., July 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Quiet Nights (Audio CD)

Maybe Quiet Nights isn't one of Miles's freshest albums, but it is a great orchestral effort from him. It sometimes sounds like Sketches Of Spain, but really carries that bossa nova groove that was so popular in 1962. It is a shame that the album wasn't finished, yet it is great that the song used to fill the album is "Time Of The Barracudas". This was a soundtrack song used to a short-lived stage play starring Laurence Harvey, and it lasted about a month. It is a medley of many other pieces, including "Barracudas", "Hotel Me Blues", and other pieces that are not named. It is a great effort, and the last orchestral effort from Miles and Gil Evans. As for the other bonus track, the beautiful "Summer Night", Miles joins Victor Feldman, Ron Carter and Frank Butler for a ballad that was recorded the same time as Seven Steps To Heaven was. Quiet Nights has nice portions of bossa nova("Aos Pes De Cruz, "Song #2"), and many others, but I saw right through what they did on "Corcovado". They sampled "On Green Dolphin Street", a previous Miles recording, along with an attachment from an alternate take of "Aos Pes De Cruz" to finish the song! Disorganized yes, but classic, yes too.