Album Feature: Sketches of Spain

I want to begin my first official Breakfast & Jazz post by saying how excited we are to begin sharing our lives with you. Starting this blog is something that Emma and I have been talking about forever. With her graduating Saturday and my semester ending Friday, we felt like there was no better time than now. I woke up today, the first day of my summer break, and for once I didn't have the immediate 'shit my pants' feeling that comes with being a Music Education major. For this, I am grateful.

I rifled through my vinyl collection to find something good to start the day with. I recently bought my first Miles Davis LP from our friends at Rabbit Hole Records (who I'm sure you will hear from much more). Before I bought it, I was warned that it was not in the best condition but I couldn't pass it up for $7. The record plays surprisingly well, except for the the crackling that covers up most of the auxiliary percussion. Now... I offer my somewhat scholarly analysis...

Miles Davis and Gil Evans reunited on this album after their first two collaborations, "Miles Ahead" and "Porgy and Bess". Evans's compositional skills share the spotlight with Miles's truly Spanish sound. Gil Evans spent months studying Spain and Spanish folk music in preparation. Miles's performance is such that the liner notes say, "It is as if Miles had been born of Andalusian gypsies but, instead of picking up the guitar, had decided to make a trumpet the expression of his cante hondo ("deep song")." Gil and Miles both put the time and effort in to make this album as representative of the Spanish culture as possible and virtually none of this album seems appropriated. The intricacies of Evans's orchestration can be heard throughout the album, where he finds ways to break ground "not only new to jazz writing but to all orchestral music."

The track on this album that stuck out to me would have to be Solea. This specific track expresses Miles's knowledge of Spanish music. The solea is a song of 'longing and lament flamenco is rooted in." Miles easily finds the wailing lament that this song calls for and adds himself into it as well. This beautiful track and 4 others fill out the Davis/Evans collaboration that is "Sketches of Spain."

Click on the image below for a recording of Solea.