E.S.P. - Plak

Unlike most previous Davis albums, E. S.P. consisted entirely of new compositions written by members of the group. Despite the abundance of new material, only one track ('Agitation') is known to have appeared on live performances by the group. 'Little One' is perhaps best known for being re-recorded on Hancock's breakthrough album Maiden Voyage, recorded a few weeks later. This version is a bit more embryonic; Carter's bass is tentative, and Davis and Shorter carry the theme with sinuous, interlocking contrapuntal lines reminiscent of Davis and Coltrane's version of 'Round Midnight.' Hancock's solo on Carter's composition 'Eighty-One' also anticipates his work on this LP - especially the title track. The title track recalls Jackie McLean's 'Little Melonae,' which Davis recorded with John Coltrane in 1956. 'Iris,' on the other hand, is another Coltrane-like ballad, not unlike 'Infant Eyes' on Shorter's album Speak No Evil. Shortly thereafter, Shorter's compositions began to dominate the quintet's recordings, although he contributes only two of the seven songs here

It was the first time Wayne Shorter recorded with Miles, and the band - in this configuration - had been together for less than a year. As you'll hear, the bond between the musicians is uncanny, as if they've been playing together for decades. Particularly striking is the brilliant interplay between Wayne Shorter and Miles on the closing track, 'Mood,' a haunting ballad written by bassist Ron Carter

A few years after the end of his legendary first quintet with John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones, Davis had put together a new band in 1963 and 1964. With Wayne Shorter on saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums, the 'second Miles Davis Quintet' is today considered one of the best formations in the history of jazz. With its first album 'E. S.P.', the quintet released another milestone in Miles Davis' extensive musical oeuvre in 1965.

'E. S.P.' shaped the jazz music of the following years, closing the gap between accessible hard bop and the improvisational, innovative approaches Davis increasingly pursued. In contrast to earlier albums, there are neither standards nor older Davis pieces on 'E. S.P.', but exclusively new compositions penned by the musicians involved, which the quintet recorded with perfect improvisational interaction and at the same time with the highest degree of cohesion and of individual expression.