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The original column was published on January 15th, 2019 and can be found below.

Shhh. Peaceful. Silent.

Happy new year, everybody! It's January, and while I'm generally not one to make resolutions, there is still something about changing out my calendar that gets me thinking about where I should go next. 2018 was a big year for me and I feel like I've grown a lot. But that always pushes me to think "Ok, so I did all that, now what?" And I found myself gravitating towards music that asks the same questions.

There's something about Miles Davis. Every single time I hear his trumpet come in over any of his incredible rhythm sections, I can't help but think "why the hell don't I listen to more Miles Davis?" But for Davis' In A Silent Way, it doesn't even take that long. It takes this record 7 seconds to kick in and it does not let up until it's over. It opens with Joe Zawinul's low organ hum until Tony Williams' hi-hats, John McLaughlin's guitar, Dave Holland's bass, and Chick Corea's and Herbie Hancock's electric pianos kick in and just like that jazz fusion was brought in to the limelight, all in 7 seconds. Rounding out the band is Wayne Shorter's beautiful soprano saxophone. And then, there's Miles. His trumpet is unparalleled here. Sure, most people prefer his deeper exploration into the murky waters between rock and jazz in the following year's Bitches' Brew, but for me, In A Silent Way is where it's at.

By the late 60s, Miles Davis was already an incredible musician and a huge force in the jazz world. In 1968 he had just gotten married to Betty Mabry, who introduced him to a whole lot of funk, soul, and rock throughout the New York scene, and as I talked about in my previous few columns on Prince and Bowie, newlyweds discovering music together is something I can really get into right now. But even though they were divorced the following year, her impact on his music was hardly a temporary thing. With 1969's In A Silent Way, Davis had fully integrated the guitars, electric pianos, and organs of rock music into his jazz ensemble. There had been a handful of artists pioneering this mix of jazz and rock (eventually called fusion), but few had the jazz world's respect that Davis had. As he continued to explore with dissonant and challenging mixes of genres throughout the 70s, he became so controversial and reviled in the jazz world, he went in to retirement for a bit, but very little of that strife is heard here.

The record is two acts, one on each side. Side A is an 18 minute suite of "Shhh" and "Peaceful." As I said up top, this piece is one of my favorites. The bass, drums, and pianos hold a perfect rhythm while the leads go explore. Davis lets the guitars and keys explore for about two minutes before he comes in. This is the kind of improvisational jam you would later hear on albums like The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers or The Grateful Dead's Europe '72 tour, but here, it's more... adventurous. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking those fantastic records. But when rock bands jam, you feel the music building heavier and heavier and the focus is often on the dynamics, to give the musicians and the audience the release of an explosive crescendo. The exploratory jams are some of my favorite things in rock, for sure, but it's a different vibe. You can feel the band's energy as they push the jam bigger and bigger. But on this record, Davis grows the music sideways instead of up. The bass and drums never get more intense, they just evolve. The keyboards never start hammering away, they only add different kinds of texture. Just about all of my improv ex