Miles Davis - Miles Smiles - SACD

Product no.: UDSACD2201
Miles Davis - Miles Smiles - SACD
£37.95
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Mobile Fidelity - UDSACD 2201 -  Hybrid SACD Stereo 

Mastered  from the Original Master Tape

3,000 Numbered Limited Edition   

Half Speed Mastered on the Mobile Fidelity The Gain 2 Ultra Analog System

Who’s kidding who? .. . Miles smiles?” So queried Anthony Tuttle in the original 1967 liner notes to Miles Smiles, but the sophomore outing from Davis’s second prodigious quintet configuration is anything but a laughing matter. Indeed, Miles Smiles is the apex of post-bop intuitive interplay, and Mobile Fidelity’s SACD brings out the best sonic detail of Teo Macero’s top-shelf production for this modal-exploratory master class. The handoff from Davis’s feverish trumpet to Wayne Shorter’s left-channel tenor saxophone response and Herbie Hancock’s subsequent piano answering on the opening track “Orbits” sets the stage for all the round-robin tempo tampering that follows. Witness Tony Williams’ deft cymbal work throughout—especially on “Circle” and “Footprints,” the latter especially heightened thanks to his back-half sparring with ace double bassist Ron Carter. Davis stakes his claim on the up-tempo “Dolores” and a fervently insistent “Ginger Bread Boy” while the fully expressive nature of “Freedom Jazz Dance” more than earns its implied “Evolution of the Groove” subtitle. A literal blueprint for a new era of free-form tension-and-release improvisation, Miles Smiles is an endless fount of aural grins.-Sound 5/5 TAS

First in a Landmark Series of Modal Albums That Forever Changed Jazz: 1966's Miles Smiles Features the Most Brilliant Playing of Miles Davis' Second "Great Quintet," Bursts with Vitality and Spirit
Mastered from the Original Master Tapes and Strictly Limited to 3,000 Numbered Copies: Mobile Fidelity Hybrid SACD Is the Definitive-Sounding Digital Edition, Teems with Clarity and Detail
 

The clarity afforded by history proves Miles Davis' second great quintet vying for the unofficial honor of being the finest small jazz combo to ever record to tape. Originally released in 1966, Miles Smiles is largely responsible for the feat, as it commences a series of five groundbreaking albums – chronologically rounded out by Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky, and Filles de Kilimanjaro – guided not by chordal patterns but open responses to melodies. Music would never again be the same. Neither will experiencing Miles Smiles once you hear this definitive-sounding hybrid SACD reissue.

Mastered from the original master tapes and strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's numbered hybrid SACD takes the landmark effort into rarified sonic territory. Davis and company play against coal-black backgrounds that serve to illuminate every detail, texture, and nuance. Superb separation and plentiful air allow instruments to fully blossom, effectively taking you into Columbia's 30th Street Studio to watch the legendary combo transpire before your eyes.

Like the other iconic Davis titles in Mobile Fidelity's reissue series, this analog version also puts a premium on tonality and preservation of individual notes, which arc and decay with uncanny realism. The brilliance of Ted Macero's original production springs forth from every passage. Never before has this standard-setting record burst with as much palpable verve, energy, spirit. Davis and Wayne Shorter's horns crackle with electricity. Ron Carter's bass attains unprecedented fluidity and dimensionality. Tony Williams' drums burst, splash, and swing with terrific fervor. Herbie Hancock's 88s dance with a communal dynamic.

Even with all the headway the ensemble made on its subsequent albums together, many jazz cognoscenti and Davis diehards strongly feel Miles Smiles remains the apex of their vast accomplishments. The piles of evidence lay within the thrills, adventurousness, and curiosities staked to every composition. At once accessible and unpredictable, songs reflect an ever-changing mentality, an edgy moodiness, and a triumphant will – with each corner the band rounds a new opportunity to integrate and interact, anticipate and respond, investigate open spaces and establish if not fully lock into contagious, broad, striding grooves.

For Davis – and the music world at large – the significance of Miles Smiles cannot be overstated. "The synthesis of complete abstraction with more or less straightforward blues-playing was to sustain [Davis] right through the darkness of the 1970s bands to the later period," write experts Richard Cook and Brian Morton. To their point, everyone from DownBeat to Q to TIME have deemed "Footprints" as one of the greatest compositions of the latter 20th century.

Everywhere you turn, genius abounds. Right out of the starting gates, "Orbits" swirls with hard-driving rhythms and Davis' untethered soloing. "Delores" likewise steams and cooks, retaining a tuneful allure all the while speaking with a streetwise swagger. Anchored in part by Hancock's radiant piano lines, the ballad "Circle" moves gently and expresses a romantic elegance via its superb lyrical poise. On Miles Smiles, the band simply has and does it all. This is a record you want to feel as much as hear.

Mobile Fidelity's painstakingly remastered reissue gives you that chance. Secure your numbered copy 

Musicians:

  • Miles Davis
  • Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone)
  • Herbie Hancock (piano)
  • Ron Carter (bass)
  • Tony Williams (drums)

Recording: October 1966 at Columbia Records­Studios, New York, by Frank Laico
Production: Teo Macero 

Orbits
Circle
Footprint
Dolores
Freedom Jazz Dance
Ginger Bread Boy

Miles Davis - Miles Smiles - SACD

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Mobile Fidelity believes that mastering systems should be neutral and transparent. The essential idea is to unveil all the detailed musical information on the original master recording without adding deterioration, coloration or other sonic artifacts. 

It is worth noting that Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab stands out as one of few record labels that independently invests in research and development of audio technology. With proprietary innovations such as GAIN 2™, general music enthusiasts and audiophiles alike have reaped the benefit of a higher consumer audio standard without investing in costly new hardware. Mobile Fidelity is pleased to work with a variety of engineering legends and companies including Tim de Paravicini, Ed Meitner, Pass Labs, Theta Digital and Sony Electronics. 

Our joint efforts to seek out the ultimate audio experience, has resulted in significant advances for the technology of music reproduction. 

GAIN 2™ Mastering Technology for Ultradisc UHR™ Hybrid SACD and Ultradisc II™ 24kt Gold CDs 

For over twenty years, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab has continually searched for the ultimate audio experience. During this search MFSL engineers and associates created The GAIN™ System, a proprietary mastering technology which brought warmth and ambience to the compact disc format. A few years ago - with higher resolution formats on the horizon - the vision of GAIN 2™ began. As it stands today, GAIN 2™ is one of the greatest technical advancements in analogue and digital technology in the last ten years. It consists of a series of critical modifications and new components to Mobile Fidelity's proprietary mastering chain. 

We feel that GAIN 2™ has come extremely close to meeting this goal. The key accomplishments of GAIN 2™ System are 1) the ability to extract all the musical information as possible through the Ultra High bandwidth analogue tape playback system with proprietary custom tape playback heads, reproducer electronics and 2) transparently capturing and storing that information with the Direct Stream Digital recording system. 

 

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