The guitarist John McLaughlin gets most of the solo time, and he deserves it. Joe splashes around restlessly in between them. Chick plays more aggressively and uses more dissonance, while Herbie sticks closely to the groove. On “Shhh/Peaceful,” Chick Corea plays the Wurlitzer in the left channel, Herbie Hancock plays the Fender Rhodes in the right channel, and Joe Zawinul plays the organ in the center. The three keyboard players give the album its dense and futuristic timbre. The hypnotically repetitive bass and soft timbres suggest quiet and restfulness, but there’s also enough dissonance (harmonic and rhythmic) to keep you alert. The track is an unbroken expanse of D Mixolydian mode, at a moderately fast tempo but without any drums aside from a noisy wash on Tony Williams’ hi-hat. The album’s entire A side is taken up by “ Shhh/Peaceful.” It started out as a tune by Joe Zawinul, but all of its composed elements were edited out, leaving only solos on an endless D7 groove. How great is this album cover? Like the music itself, it’s deceptively simple and minimal, but bottomless in its implications. And while the music as performed was largely improvised, the album has clear large-scale organization. Two of the three “songs” were built from tape editing in postproduction, effectively making them remixes of themselves. With its three keyboard players, ultra-minimal drums and static harmonies, the album sounds more like ambient electronic music than anything else. It has elements of rock and funk, but it doesn’t really sound like those either. The music hardly sounds like “jazz” at all. Most of Miles’ music of this era is ornery and angular, but In a Silent Way is like slipping into a warm bath. In a Silent Way is my favorite Miles Davis album, possibly my favorite jazz album, and one of my favorite works of music generally.

Mclaughlin miles davis discography