180-Gram Color Vinyl LP

In 1976, when Davis’ withdrawal from the scene seemed to go on forever, Columbia released an album bringing together two different periods on each side of a single LP. Side A featured three sublime pieces composed by Wayne Shorter in the spring of 1967. The opening waltz inspired each member of the quintet to such heights that one doesn’t know who to listen to first — even if the major part was nothing but a concerto grosso of cymbals that accompanied the improbable score of nuances modulating the regular beat of the Charleston cymbal. In “Capricorn,” Herbie Hancock doesn’t come in at all until his right hand solo, but on “Sweet Pea,” his two hands join with those of Ron Carter and Tony Williams in a collective improvisation that the rhythm section maintains throughout Shorter’s homage to Billy Strayhorn.

Side B offers two strange constructions from November 11 and 12, 1968. The electric piano’s swabs of color and the unison of the piano and double bass continued the shift that had begun with Filles De Kilimanjaro, leading to In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew the following year.