Miles Davis “Nefertiti” (1968)

I wish I'd been a fly on the wall, no, a fly on producer Teo Macero's shoulder during the classic sessions which yielded this album and the rest of the quintet's catalogue in the late 60s. Creative tension probably doesn't even begin to describe the atmosphere. Strangely, there are no Davis compositions here, but Wayne Shorter weighs in with the first two tracks - the slightly off key, circular title track and beautiful Hand Jive. On the latter, the sax is a true wonder in his hands, soulful, searching, graceful. I much prefer the version of Herbie Hancock's Riot heard here, rather than on his own album Speak Like A Child. It's slightly faster, with an almost mambo, Latin sounding tempo. –Neal