Musical Mind-Reading And Other Modal Miracles

With artists as prolific as Miles Davis it is inevitable that certain recordings fall by the wayside over time, get put in storage, so to speak, and forgotten. After all, there is only so much music we can absorb per unit time, and even someone like Miles could not be consistently brilliant even though we have come to expect that from him - some records were simply better than others. With E.S.P. (Columbia, 1965, reissued 1998), however, there is no excuse for such neglect. It is not only a wonderful album but also a work of paramount historical importance, belonging right up with Kind of Blue, Birth of the Cool and Sketches of Spain, and I find it bewildering that although most critics like it (only Gary Giddins called it "a surprisingly tame effort"), it is otherwise rarely discussed.

E.S.P. was the first studio album recorded by Miles's Second Quintet - Wayne Shorter on tenor, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums - the group that pioneered an entirely new harmonic concept (modal improvisation), provided an accessible alternative to the burgeoning but largely unlistenable free jazz movement of the day, and remained hugely influential on several generations of musicians; perhaps the only group to achieve all three.

The modality (developing a melody or solo based on a single scale rather than on chord changes) is definitely the most obvious characteristic of the record. Miles had already experimented with the idiom on the classic Kind of Blue, but here it has been fully adopted as the band's vernacular in which all musicians are fluent. The movement from chord to chord is replaced by movement from one single note to the next, giving the music a very sparse and inherently dark feel. The obvious tension/resolution of a chord progression is sacrificed in favor of a much more subtle, but never completely resolved, tension of melodic phrases moving horizontally around a barely discernible tonal center. Even Hancock's piano accompaniment - an inherently chordal task - functions within the overall approach rather than against it.

Another feat that Miles and his sidemen pull off is the unbelievable level of communication and mental rapport. The album wasn't titled E.S.P. for nothing - it really does sound as if they are reading each other's minds sometimes. On "Eighty-One," they change the feel from a lilting, atmospheric beat to a more traditional swing in the middle of Miles's solo, but they do it as one, including Miles himself, who does not hesitate for an instant even though he is busy improvising. They change again, this time to a more Latin feel, for Shorter's solo, and again the precision is stunning. Other examples abound, especially on "Little One" and "R.J." Williams, who was a teenager when E.S.P. was recorded, is especially amazing. He neither sets the pace with his drumming nor follows Miles. He is just there, slowing down and speeding up exactly when necessary, changing his dynamics slightly but effectively to support Miles or Shorter as they take off for the next plateau of their explorations.

With the possible exception of the title track (on which, incidentally, Miles plays some remarkably fast runs with ease and unforced confidence, disproving the claim that his technique was inadequate), the tunes are taken at slow to moderate tempos, and the slower they are the more impact they tend to make. "Little One" is slow, but it is not a ballad. No romantic candle-light stuff here - it is dark, brooding, and mysterious. Carter's "Mood" is even more powerful - the insistent piano/bass riff will send chills down your spine long after the song is over. It is only fitting that a few years later Carter reworked the riff into a trio number and called it "Doom" (which is "Mood" spelled backwards, but that's beside the point). Shorter, whose playing could be quite ebullient in other contexts, submits himself to the collective consciousness of the band completely. He frequently builds his solos out of relatively short, melodic phrases, matching Miles's famously minimalist structures. Even on the relatively "hot" title track, he breaks up his runs frequently, leaving space where many others would leave none. Hancock is even more spacious - it seems that he tries to play as few notes as possible and still make his point. He is all color, rich and vibrant, but his shapes are intentionally vague. Carter is simply perfect and Miles himself no less so. Working very much in the Kind of Blue mode (no pun intended), he is even more relaxed here, having found a perfect foil in Shorter and not having to deal with Coltrane's overwhelming intensity any longer. His solos are passionate in an introspective way, with a lot of mid-register phrases occasionally punctuated by a high-pitched scream to great effect.

The classic Second Quintet went on to make several other albums of this unique, instantly recognizable music, but E.S.P. remains a true original, helping us understand most of the things we hear in jazz today and offering an opportunity to hear some of the most remarkable playing to be captured on tape.

***

Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet), Wayne Shorter (tenor), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), Tony Williams (drums)

Tracks: ESP, Eighty-One, Little One, R.J., Agitation, Iris, Mood