Miles Davis – Sorcerer

With its magic for the ears and its beguiling musical spells, the 1967 album "Sorcerer" lives up to its name. As the third of five albums by the legendary second Miles Davis quintet, "Sorcerer" fascinates with its instrumental colors and subtle details.

Wayne Shorter's horn spreads pure lyricism on an enormous stage, Tony Williams' drums sound hard and precise or soft as a feather as needed, Herbie Hancock's piano runs get more space and their connection to the central rhythms becomes clearer. Except for the closing track, all of the album's tracks are by Davis' bandmates; "Nothing Like You" is a tribute to Davis' last wife, who also appears on the cover. "Sorcerer" belongs in every jazz collection.

Miles Davis is considered one of the most influential and well-known figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music. At the request of Columbia Records manager George Avakian, he formed his first regular quintet in 1955. After all members of the first quintet left Davis a few years later, he recruited the core of the second quintet in 1963 and the last member in late 1964. The second quintet recorded and played together until the late 1960s.

Sorcerer is the third album of the Second Great Miles Davis Quintet. The quintet consisted of Miles Davis on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums. It was recorded in May 1967 and contains a darker sound. The last song of the album, "Nothing Like You", is sung by Bob Dorough.

Sorcerer is available on black vinyl.

Reviews

"...Review copy flawless. The sound of the music shows every nuance of the instruments and is in no way inferior to that of the original 1967 pressing." (MINT, August 2023)