Nefertiti (Miles Davis album)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nefertiti
Miles Davis - Nefertiti.jpg
Studio album by
Miles Davis
ReleasedJanuary 15, 1968[1]
RecordedJune 7, 22-23 and July 19, 1967
30th Street Studio
(New York City)
Genre
Length39:08
LabelColumbia
ProducerTeo Macero, Howard Roberts
Miles Davis chronology
Sorcerer
(1967) 		Nefertiti
(1968) 		Miles in the Sky
(1968)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic5/5 stars[3]
Down Beat4/5 stars[4]
Penguin Guide to Jazz3.5/4 stars[5]
Q5/5 stars[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide5/5 stars[7]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide5/5 stars[8]
Tom Hull – on the WebA–[9]

Nefertiti is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released in March 1968.[10] Recorded on June 7, June 22–23 and July 19, 1967, at Columbia's 30th Street Studio, the album was Davis' last fully acoustic album. Davis himself did not contribute any compositions, which were mostly written by Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter.[3]

Music[]

The fourth album by Miles Davis's Second Great Quintet, Nefertiti, is best known for the unusual title track, on which the horn section repeats the melody numerous times without individual solos while the rhythm section improvises underneath, reversing the traditional role of a rhythm section.[3] C. Michael Bailey of All About Jazz cited it as one of the quintet's six albums between 1965 and 1968 that introduced the post-bop subgenre.[2]

Shortly after this album, Hancock recorded a different version of "Riot" for his 1968 album Speak Like a Child. In 1978, Shorter recorded a new version of "Pinocchio" with Weather Report for the album Mr. Gone.

This album, along with others by this particular group, demonstrates their willingness to fundamentally alter the basics of a composition during the recording process. For example, the quintet initially rehearsed 'Madness' as a slow waltz. On the next two takes (including the released version) it is rendered at a fast tempo in predominantly 4/4 time. Similarly, Pinocchio is a relatively fast composition on the released version and yet the group rehearsed it at a much slower pace, with the horns repeating the head whilst the rhythm section improvises underneath, in a similar manner to the master take of 'Nefertiti'.[11]

Nefertiti was the final all-acoustic album of Davis' career. Starting with his next album, Miles in the Sky, Davis began to experiment with electric instruments, marking the dawn of his electric period.[12]

Track listing[]

Columbia – CS 9594[13]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Recording session[1]Length
1."Nefertiti"Wayne ShorterJune 7, 19677:52
2."Fall"Wayne ShorterJuly 19, 19676:39
3."Hand Jive"Tony WilliamsJune 22, 19678:54
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Recording session[1]Length
1."Madness"Herbie HancockJune 23, 19677:31
2."Riot"Herbie HancockJuly 19, 19673:04
3."Pinocchio"Wayne ShorterJuly 19, 19675:08
Total length:39:08
  • Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–6 on CD reissues.
CD Reissue (Columbia – CS 9594)[14]
No.TitleWriter(s)Recording session[1]Length
7."Hand Jive" (First Alternate Take)Tony WilliamsJune 22, 19676:50
8."Hand Jive" (Second Alternate Take)Tony WilliamsJune 22, 19678:17
9."Madness" (Alternate Take)Herbie HancockJune 23, 19676:45
10."Pinocchio" (Alternate Take)Wayne ShorterJuly 19, 19675:08
Total length:1:06:08

Personnel[]

Musicians[]

Production[]

Chart history[]

Billboard Music Charts (North America) – Nefertiti[3]

  • 1968: Top Jazz Albums – No. 8

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Miles Davis – Nefertiti". milesdavis.com. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Miles Davis – Nefertiti (CD)". Discogs. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Nefertiti – All Music Review". All Music. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  4. ^ Frank Alkyer Enright; Jason Koransky, eds. (2007). The Miles Davis Reader. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 305–6. ISBN 1617745707.
  5. ^ "Nefertiti – Acclaimed Music". acclaimedmusic.net. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  6. ^ "Review: Nefertiti". Q. London: 89. January 1992. Acoustic jazz couldn't go far after this masterpiece...
  7. ^ Considine, J. D.; et al. (November 2, 2004). Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. Simon & Schuster. p. 215. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  8. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 58. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  9. ^ Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Grade List: Miles Davis". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  10. ^ Carter, Ron; et al. (2012). Miles Davis: The Complete Illustrated History. Voyageur Press. p. 126. ISBN 0760342628. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  11. ^ Waters, Keith (2011). The Studio Recordings of the Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-68. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 217–228. ISBN 9780195393835.
  12. ^ "Rediscovering the Miles Davis Quintet". Slate. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  13. ^ "Miles Davis – Nefertiti (LP)". Discogs. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  14. ^ "Miles Davis – Nefertiti (CD)". Discogs. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
Retrieved from ""