Often cited as a great example of the so called "Third Stream" musical genre with fusion of classical music elements with Jazz Improvisation, Sketches is another masterpiece from Miles Davis in collaboration with Gil Evans that brings us Flamenco flavoured synergy between classical orchestrations and melancholic jazz phrasings with true Audiophile sound from the Original Analog Master Tapes.

Featured in Vinyl Gourmet Audiophile TOP 100

Click here to read the review from the Vinyl Gourmet Blog

Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rated 358/500

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Miles Davis Catalog Audiophile Restoration Series

Ultimate sound quality for some of the best music ever recorded!

• Numbered Limited Edition
• 180 Gram High Definition Vinyl pressed at RTI USA
• Mastering on MFSL Gain 2 Ultra Analog System
• Mastered by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
• Mastered from the Original Analog Master Tapes
• Cut by Krieg Wunderlich and Shawn Britton
• Special Static Free & Dust Free Inner Sleeves
• Deluxe heavy duty cover

1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 64 to analog console to lathe

Miles Davis and Gil Evans bridged styles and collaborated on high-concept projects a total of three times during their celebrated career. For their final act, they created Sketches of Spain, a peak moment in each luminary’s career and a transformative album that weds Spanish themes, lush orchestrations, romantic timbres, and Davis’ increasingly lyrical methods in a tender ceremony that continues to resonate more than five decades after its original release.

Part of Mobile Fidelity’s Miles Davis catalog restoration series, the genre-defying 1960 classic has been given the ultimate white-gloves treatment. Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI, this exquisite 180g LP significantly expands the soundstage that frames the orchestra and digs deep to eradicate a dryness that many critics have found as an anathema to its overall enjoyment. Here, at last, is the full-figured perspective long deserved by the woodwinds, strings, and percussion, all of which come alive with previously unheard definition and detail.

Indeed, in its three-decade-plus history, Mobile Fidelity has never been prouder to have the honor of handling efforts as important as Davis’ key recordings. It’s why the label’s engineers have taken every available measure to insert listeners into the space occupied by Davis, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Jimmy Cobb, percussionist Elvin Jones, and the 18-piece orchestra. With both Evans and Davis attracted to the blues undercurrents permanently entrenched in the Spanish flamenco strains, listeners can finally wholly detect the myriad microdynamic tonalities, brooding ostinato devices, and minor pedal points that stamp the compositions with divine sensibility and goffered effect.

Multi-note motifs, brief improvisational solos, fanfare sweeps, and contrapuntal exchanges inform the flamenco-spiced pieces, but so do unconventionally voiced instruments that come into full relief on this reissue. Davis’ Harmon-muted trumpet is abetted by an assortment of bassoons and French horns that create pleasing contrasts and sounds (pp, mf, ppp) that get to the heart of Sketches of Spain: splashes of color. Seldom, if ever, did Davis ever so expressively and liberally paint with color. And in Evans, he has a likewise-minded partner to help draw out variegated shades, adamantine layers, and striated distinctions.

Whether it’s the somber mood piece of the standout “Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio),” renowned for Davis’ flugelhorn performance, or the folktale-based “Solea,” Mobile Fidelity’s enhanced Sketches of Spain transfixes with playing, ideas, and innovations that remain exclusive to this incomparable record.

Track Listing:

SIDE A:
1. Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio)
2. Will O’ the Wisp

SIDE B:
1. The Pan Piper
2. Saeta
3. Solea

Click here to read the review from the Vinyl Gourmet Blog

Vinyl Gourmet Rated 8/10 for Music, 9/10 for Sound and 9/10 for Value

"Another advantage of the increased dynamic range on the MFSL version is the way Miles Davis trumpet sounds more natural, rich and expressive, unlike almost all the previous releases where the trumpet sometimes sounds artificial, hard and harsh to the hears causing some discomfort for the listening session (something that certainly didn't feel appropriate to the mood of the music), as well as a much more open and expansive bass that makes for a more realistic representation of the larger scale that is a vital aspect of this recording. With the Classic Records LP we get a more direct and narrow approach with all the main sounds very much upfront in the presentation, but on the Mobile Fidelity mastering we get Sketches Of Spain in all it's greatness and with all the detail of a varied and complex musical performance where several factors come into play and the main sounds are perfectly integrated and in tune with the spirit of the original recording, and this with increased dynamics and resolution that is deeper, richer and more detailed than ever before. Congratulations to MFSL for bringing us another classic in top shape, this Miles Davis reissues program is a must have for any music lover, these are the very best mastering jobs from the best sources available cut into the best format in the World."

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