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In a Silent Way
Studio album by Miles Davis
Released	July 30, 1969
Recorded	February 18, 1969 CBS 30th Street Studio B (New York, New York)
Genre	Jazz, fusion, avant-garde jazz
Length	38:10
Label	Columbia/Legacy
Producer	Teo Macero
Professional reviews
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Miles Davis chronology
Filles de Kilimanjaro (1969) In a Silent Way (1969) Bitches Brew (1970)

In a Silent Way is a 1969 album by jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, originally issued as CS 9875. Although previous Davis records and live performances had already begun the shift to jazz fusion, In a Silent Way featured a full-blown electric approach. For this and other reasons, it is usually regarded as the first of his fusion recordings. It is also the first recording by Davis that was largely constructed by the editing and arrangement of producer Teo Macero. Macero's editing techniques have incorporated elements of classical sonata form in Davis' recordings for In a Silent Way.^[1] Both of the extended tracks on the album consist of three distinct parts that could be thought of as an exposition, development and recapitulation. The last six minutes of the first track are actually the first six minutes of the same track repeated in exactly the same form. With this "trick" the track takes on a more understandable structure.

The album featured virtuoso guitarist and newcomer John McLaughlin, who had one month prior to the February 18th In a Silent Way session recorded his classic debut album Extrapolation. At the request of Tony Williams, McLaughlin moved in early February from England to the US to play with The Tony Williams Lifetime. Williams brought McLaughlin to Davis' house the night before the scheduled session for In a Silent Way. Davis had not heard the guitarist before, but was so impressed that he told him to show up at the studio the next day. McLaughlin would go on to great fame in the 1970s as leader of the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

According to producer Bob Belden, organist Larry Young, whom Williams had also recently hired for his Lifetime trio, was also intended to play on In a Silent Way. However, out of fear that he would lose his entire band to Davis, Williams sent Young home as soon as he arrived. Instead Joe Zawinul, who had come to the session only as the composer of the song "In a Silent Way," ended up playing organ on the album.

Davis' next fusion album, Bitches Brew, showed him moving even further into the area that lay between the genres of rock and jazz. The dark, fractured dissonance of Bitches Brew ultimately proved to be instrumental in its success; it far outsold In a Silent Way.

In 2001, Columbia Legacy/Sony Music released The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions, a three-disc box set which included the unedited recordings used to produce the original album, In a Silent Way as originally edited, and additional tracks.

The Penguin Guide to Jazz has included In a Silent Way in its suggested "Core Collection."^[2]

Track listing

Original LP side one

1. "Shhh/Peaceful" (Miles Davis) – 18:03
   1. "Shhh" – 6:14
   2. "Peaceful" – 5:42
   3. "Shhh" – 6:20

Original LP side two

1. "In a Silent Way/It's About That Time" (Joe Zawinul, Miles Davis) – 19:57
   1. "In a Silent Way" (Joe Zawinul) – 4:11
   2. "It's About That Time" (Miles Davis) – 11:27
   3. "In a Silent Way" (Joe Zawinul) – 4:14

Personnel

Musicians

• Miles Davis – trumpet
• Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone
• John McLaughlin – electric guitar
• Chick Corea – electric piano
• Herbie Hancock – electric piano
• Joe Zawinul – organ
• Dave Holland – double bass
• Tony Williams – drums

Production

• Producer - Teo Macero
• Engineer (remix and editing) - Russ Payne
• Original recording Engineer - Stan Tonkel
• Cover Photography - Lee Friedlander
• Back Cover Photography - John G. Walter^[3]
• Back Cover Notes - Frank Glenn

Notes

1. ^ Tingen, Paul, in Miles Beyond
2. ^ Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2006) [1992]. "Miles Davis" (in English). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (8th ed. ed.). New York: Penguin. pp. 326–327. ISBN 0-141-02327-9.  
3. ^ Smith, Cliff (September 11, 1969). "Rochester After Dark". Rochester Times-Union (Rochester, NY: Gannett Company, Inc.): p. 1D.  

References

• Carr, Ian. Miles Davis: The Definitive Biography. Thunder's Mouth Press, New York, 1998.
• Tingen, Paul. Miles Beyond: The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967-1991. Billboard Books, New York, 2001. Miles Beyond
• Article about the making of In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew