Prince of Darkness

Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Tony Williams (drums). From the album Sorcerer (1967).

This is the third album recorded by Miles Davis with his second great quintet and the cover features Cicely Tyson, who became his wife many years later. It’s a transitional album, a cerebral, calm and subtle work that is rarely disrupted. Even when the tempo accelerates, there is little dense and obsessive energy in Davis. He becomes evasive by delving deeper into the group’s music to explore different alternatives, emphasizing both complex chords and a relaxed sound as well as pure improvisation.

Shorter’s “Masqualero” is one of the best tracks Davis has ever played and he kept it in his repertoire even in the electronic era, but he doesn’t participate in “Pee Wee”. Sorcerer is a good starting point for those who want to get to know Davis’s second great quintet, an easy, yet rich and profound experience, able of catching anyone with his spells who gives it a chance.

This is a comprehensible and easy to hear theme that the group exposes twice with authority. Next Davis enters with a determined and intense solo linking the phrases with skill. Shorter follows him playing in a complex manner full of vitality. After that, the group plays the theme once to give way to Hancock, who starts out more calmly, but then speeds up and offers us a dynamic and balanced speech. At last, the group re-exposes the theme and repeats the last sentence several times.