record collection revisited: Miles Davis "Sketches of Spain"

Miles Davis released what is arguably one of the greatest jazz recordings in 1959 with "Sketches of Spain", saying that he really trusted collaborator and orchestrator Gil Evans who he was working with at the time.  It is a masterful display of how jazz and classical music can be blended together.  The whole idea for blogging this record actually came from hearing (on the recently blogged new Return To Forever album), their interpretation of "Concierto d'Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo which is probably the centerpiece of "Sketches of Spain" as a musical idea or project to begin with.  The beauty in this record is surely in the arrangements and it has captivated jazz and surely classical fans (to an extent), and, it was one of the significant records in 1959 when jazz was at a peak in it's popularity.

The particular version of the record that is in my collection is the 50th anniversary edition.  It is timeless and is a joy to listen to as I found it while I was still delving into Miles' groundbreaking electric fusion work which came a decade later.  Here is the whole track listing for "Sketches of Spain".  Jazz fans and music lovers, it cannot be overstated how important this album is in terms of Miles Davis' legacy.  Definitely check it out if you haven't already.  It is a listening experience in itself, the grandiose and yet beautiful arrangements that Davis and Evans came up with.  So, that alone merits the record being listened to, rather than overly talked about.

The deluxe version of this record actually has alternate takes of different arrangements of the pieces, especially for Joaquin Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" which is this centerpiece of the entire record. Rodrigo's piece is accompanied mostly by pieces arranged and written by Gil Evans except for "The Maids of Cadiz" starting off disc two, written by Leo Delibes, and, the closing track, "Teo", likely written by Davis himself.

Definitely check it out. 

Disc 1

1. Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio)
2. Will O' the Wisp
3. The Pan Piper
4. Saeta
5. Solea
6. Song of Our Country

Disc 2

1. The Maids of Cadiz
2. Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio: rehearsal take)
3. Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio: alternate take)
4. Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio: alternate take #2) (this one has a real fanfare feel to it)
5. Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio: alternate ending)
6. The Pan Piper (take one)
7. Song of Our Country (take nine, without intro)
8. Song of Our Country (take fourteen, slower tempo)
9. Saeta (full version of Master)
10. Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio) (live)
11. Teo