I liked Miles In Berlin after first listen. It sounds pretty good too and it has a classy cover I think. However, not being a Miles completist, among all the live albums from this era I think I would choose "Four & More" + "My Funny Valentine" before it. Maybe after getting more familiar with the second great quintet as we move ahead I will want to go back to it to pick up some more details.
Here we go... E.S.P. Columbia CL 2350, 1965 Recorded in Los Angeles, January 20-22, 1965 with Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone) Herb Hancock (piano) Ronald Carter (bass) Tony Williams (drums). The Second Quintet's first classic studio recording!
Oh boy oh boy oh boy. This is where we hear Wayne Shorter's influence begin to take hold of the group's compositions. Although Shorter only contributes two of his own compositions here (Hancock gets one, Carter/Davis get two together, Carter gets one and Davis gets one), his style is all over this record. On its release, this record was reportedly somewhat overlooked, overshadowed as it was by My Funny Valentine. E.S.P. marks a departure from the Tin Pan Alley/American Songbook approach, to which Davis would never fully return. This band would still play some of those songs live, but would increasingly rely on original songs, including Davis' excellent "Agitation," which would become a staple of his live book.
I'm still looking for a good digital version of the original stereo mix. Don't much care for the '98 remix. Trying to obtain a 35DP 69 or a 32DP 722, but so far no luck. Sad that MFSL hasn't announced this release... yet (still got to write them that letter with suggestions for another round).
I once had the 35DP. Not bad, but a bit anaemic sounding. I have since replaced it with a needledrop of the Impex LP reissue, which uses the original stereo mix.
I've read great things about the Impex reissue. If I can't find one of the Japanese CDs I'll have to go that route. Actually, I should buy one regardless - I need a good copy of this one.
My understanding is tht all of the 2nd Quintet studio albums sold poorly upon initial release, but they would become a great influence on jazz over time. Herbie Hancock writes in his book about how the chord pattern he played at the end of "Eighty One" would inspire his piece "Maiden Voyage." Regarding sound quality I like the Contemporary Jazz Masterpieces version from the early 90's. It is a remix, but a lot more similar to the original than the later Mark Wilder remix from the box set. Trivia note: Ron Carter would rerecord the piece "Mood" under the title "Doom" for his album from 1969 Uptown Conversation, with Hancock. It also has another version of "R.J." (which would also appear on Wynton Marsalis's Columbia debut in the early 80's with Hancock, Carter and Williams).
Incidentally, E.S.P. has one of the most memorable Miles album covers, showing him with his soon to be ex wife Frances Davis.
Enjoying this thread hugely. I had no idea ESP on CD was likely a remix - I have the 71 disc Complete Columbia Albums box, it's the only copy I've ever heard. Sound fine to me with no reference point, but I'll keep an eye out for an earlier version now.
The Impex reissue is the way to go for this title on vinyl. The hard stereo separation can annoy, if that's not your thing, but the tonality and clarity far exceed original pressings.
That box uses original mixes on some titles instead of the Wilder remixes. Bitches Brew, for example. I'd be curious to know whether you actually do have an original mix of E.S.P. as part of that set. Unfortunately, I don't know, but hopefully others here might.
That, btw, is the only US-related issue of the original mix of BB on CD. I'll check on mix of E.S.P. later when I get home. It's been a while so I'm not even sure how specific mastering/mixing credits are. I do know that it is a widely held belief that from the late 90s on, BB was issued in its original mix on CD. The 3 releases since then (2 disc 1999, BB 40th Anniversary, and 3 disc Legacy Edition) all have the following blurb: Remixed in 1998 by Mark Wider from the original master tapes Unless I'm reading that incorrectly, it's pretty clear that those do NOT contain the original mix.
Repeating a comment I have made on other threads here, I'm hoping Sony does a second Miles mono box covering the 60's. E.S.P. and the other second quintet albums sound great in mono.
Great album and perhaps the most accessible of the Quintet studio albums, the Kind Of Blue of the 60s.
Agreed. I liked the Impex more than my promo 1A / 1A. I enjoy this album a lot, and this quintet might be my favorite time frame for Miles. The electric stuff is so incredible as well, but damn these guys could play so well together. I mean, look at this lineup!
Never seen that, thanks . What a stylish, cool man he was at that time. Sipping champagne in tailor-made suit with the lovely Frances...too much. Don Draper got nothin' on Miles.
E.S.P.... Such a good album, man. So. Good. The second quartet albums are some of my favorite music of all-time. I was actually exposed to one of the compositions first (I think) on Wynton Marsalis' self-titled album, that has a stellar "RJ" with Herbie and Ron Carter and Tony Williams. What I like the most about the second quartet is that they play so much like a single band, with everyone doing interesting things the entire time, instead of waiting for the solo to get traded around. This might be the quintet's strongest album in my opinion. I like all the tracks. When I think of Jazz with a capital J as one of the best things mankind has ever created, E.S.P., RJ, and other tracks are examples that I think of. In my list of best things ever, it's below a few things such as written language or agriculture, but it's better than the inclined plane and in that general neighborhood.
Is the E.S.P. remix drastic or subtle? I downloaded this from amazon recently but will upgrade if needed since this is album is so good.
thanks for writing this -- this is my obstacle with jazz, generally. I like ensemble playing and harmonizing more than soloing. The passages I often like most in Miles's stuff is when the band plays the head, when there are cool chord changes. I definitely need to hear this album ...
The original mix is on the quiet and muted side while Wilder tried to make it more like how they would have sounded live. Same with the album Sorcerer. I don't know if it's better or worse, but it is quite different. As I mentioned the red-border early 90's E.S.P. CD has a different remix, by Tim Geelen, that is more like the original.
