IN A SILENT WAY

In a Silent Way is a 1969 album containing two sidelong pieces. Although it is a Mikes Davis solo album, lots of big names participated in a one-day session from which the album was culled. Among the biggest: keyboardists Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, and Chick Corea, and guitarist John McLaughlin. Given the fact that the recordings were sliced and reassembled to create In a Silent Way, Teo Macero, who produced the session and assembled the album with Davis, is often considered as more essential to the success of the album than any sideman.

The individual compositions, the four "songs," are good - - although the two on the first side are, in my opinion, better. The composition of the album itself from three hours of sessions is also impressive, although I haven't heard the source material, available on The In a Silent Way Sessions. The sound quality is good, although the soloing instruments are a bit too starkly isolated in the mix for my tastes. And of course, the playing is excellent.

Side one is presented in the liner notes as a medley of two Davis compositions, "Shhh" and "Peaceful." But the side is, in effect, a single piece with brief pauses. For example, there is a pause at 6:14, indicating "Shhh" transitioning to "Peaceful," although the music before and after that point is very similar. A more noticeable break occurs around 12:04, when the intro to "Shhh" reappears. Despite the titles on side one, the music is of moderate intensity. Actually, the most peaceful part of the album is the opening of the second side.

Side two is a medley of Zawinul's "In a Silent Way" and Davis's "It's About That Time." The first two minutes are given to McLaughlin who solos over a very light electric piano backing which fades in slowly. At this point, Davis and saxophonist Wayne Shorter enter and take center stage. At 4:11, as noted in the credits, "It's About That Time" begins, and here there is a clean break between two songs. Whereas "In a Silent Way" has no rhythmic percussion, "It's About That Time" is much more energetic, with a steady beat provided by drummer Tony Williams and bassist Dave Holland. Throughout this piece - - the middle eleven-and-a-half minutes of the side - - McLaughlin, Shorter, and Davis each have plenty of time for an extended solo. The last 4:14 is a recapitulation of "In a Silent Way" played in a very similar arrangement as it had been earlier on the side.

The dice-and-splice construction on In a Silent Way works on side one, but it seems forced on side two. "It's About That Time" just doesn't work in a medley with the title track, and Davis himself might have wondered about side two fitting with side one; apparently he and the group returned to the studio later the same week to record different material to go with "Shhh/Peaceful."

Overall, the album is good. It's also historically important for its groundbreaking production and style. Recorded and released in 1969, In a Silent Way is regarded as a true "fusion" album - - perhaps the first. Although its rock quotient is much higher than on Davis's earlier breakthrough Kind of Blue (1959), there would be significantly more rock the next year on his follow-up album, Bitches Brew. So while In a Silent Way is a good jazz album, fusion or rock fans might want to start with Bitches Brew.