Miles Davis: Water Babies

In 1976, when Miles' retreat from the music scene seemed unstoppable, Columbia released an album that combined two different periods on each side of a single LP. Side A contained three great pieces Wayne Shorter had composed in the spring of 1967. The opening waltz inspired each member of the quintet to such heights that you don't know who to listen to first - even though the main section was nothing more than a concerto grosso of cymbals accompanying the improbable score of nuances modulating the regular beat of the Charleston cymbal. In "Capricorn," Herbie Hancock first comes into play with his right-hand solo, but in "Sweet Pea," his two hands join those of Ron Carter and Tony Williams in a collective improvisation that the rhythm section maintains during Shorter's tribute to Billy Strayhorn. Side B features two strange constructions from November 11 and 12, 1968, with the splashes of color from the electric piano and the interplay of piano and double bass continuing the evolution that had begun with Filles De Kilimanjaro and led to In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew the following year.