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32 of 32 found the following review helpful:
 Amazing melodies, nice playing, superb Miles Davis set.Aug 24, 2002
By Mister Hip-Hop
This album is definitely one of the more progressive Miles Davis efforts. It was the last "straight-ahead" jazz album he made before experimenting with electric bass and keyboards in his rhythm section on Miles In The Sky and Filles De Killemanjaro (both released the following year, in 1968). Nefertiti showcases Wayne Shorter's great compositions once again, and Herbie Hancock also contributes a couple pieces. Tony Williams also composed a piece. This album is painfully under-appreciated compared to Miles Davis's other classic releases, although all the real Miles listeners know about Nefertiti. Every track is pulsed by Ron Carter's exquisite basslines and the drumming battery of Tony Williams. "Nefertiti", a Shorter composition, has the melody repeated for about seven and a half minutes, but it's repeated in a different way each time. The moods of the piece change distinctively throughout. There are no solos, and the hypnotic melody will get to you over time. "Fall" is a mysterious, lilting ballad which comes out to be a true gem. Another piece by Wayne Shorter, the abstract setting makes the piece sound like it could speed up at any second, but it remains a beautiful, slow piece. Miles and Wayne both take excellent solos here, and Herbie takes a nice solo here as well showing how much he has grown as a musician. "Hand Jive" is a Tony Williams piece, and Miles takes a solo full of cool ideas and his usual sweet sound on the trumpet. Everyone gets a chance to really stretch out on this track. In fact, it wouldn't really sound out of place on Miles Smiles, a Miles album made the previous year. "Madness" has more of a straight feel, although there are still many tempo changes, especially in Herbie's piano solo. Here, Miles really gets into his solo and shines brightly. The theme is cool, almost sounding like a play on horror movie, but it's in a playful manner. "Riot" is a piece Herbie Hancock recorded outside of Miles's group and is being remade here. Everyone takes a relatively short solo on this track, which almost gives the listener a bit of a break from the previous four pieces, which are all pretty long. "Pinocchio", is my favorite track on the album though. The theme is so cool, it almost sounds like a voice. The whole piece has a timeless, energetic feel to it. The theme stays stuck in my head for a while, and this is the only track on the album I will put on repeat for a long period of time, except for maybe "Fall". Miles and Wayne both take awesome solos and Herbie makes a great contribution as well. Tony Williams adds the real fire behind this tune with his great, percussive drumming. Usually my favorite track on an album is not the last one, so this is yet another unusual aspect of Nefertiti. Overall, this is a great album for any Miles Davis fan. Every single track is amazing. Not the type of album you would call a guilty pleasure. Unfortunately, I have a digitally remastered version but I don't have the one Amazon[.com] has here. Mine is just the original: six beautiful tracks. I will have to check out this new version with alternate takes although I recommend the original version if you can find it just for the ability to hear the album the way Miles originally intended for it to be released. An outstanding album, get it!
17 of 17 found the following review helpful:
The Change CompletedAug 10, 2003
By D. J. Zabriskie
"zabdart"
With "Nefertiti" Miles Davis completes the rethinking and reworking of the small jazz ensemble he began with "Miles Smiles." The results are nothing short of stunning.
Starting with the title track we hear jazz as its never been played before. Once again Miles presents us with a "fugue in
rythymn." This time, however, the horns play a constant drone figure, while the lead voice is Tony Williams' astounding drumming and Ron Carter and Herbie Hancock insert counterpoint. You won't hear anything like this anywhere else from anybody else... it's amazing! As with the whole of "Miles Smiles" it is
NOT instantly "likeable." It takes a few listenings for the sheer audacious brilliance of it all to sink in, but once it does, you are so glad and grateful that you made the journey!
"Fall" is a little more traditional, a neat little exercise in
Milesean lyricism with recognizable solos by Miles, Wayne and
Herbie that are all both thoughtful and beautiful. The feeling of floating while sinking slowly implied in the title is maintained throughout. The real killer on this recording, however, is the master take of "Pinocchio," which just as easily
could have been called "Tony Williams Unbound," because that's what Miles does. He unleashes Tony Williams in all his poly-rythymic brilliance. The effect is energizing, galvanizing...
you name it. Mere adjectives fail!
My one quibble with this recording is the added "bonus" takes.
They are clearly "out-takes" and add nothing, except for the most
encyclopedic-minded Miles-nut. The album was perfect in its original LP form. Why detract from that perfection by including
takes Miles clearly didn't want us to hear? Yet, despite the "filler," this is one prodigious Miles Davis album. No serious Miles Davis collection is complete without it!
18 of 19 found the following review helpful:
astoundingSep 25, 2000
By Sean M. Kelly
"Nefertiti," one of 1967's most interesting collections of music, is a landmark album and unquestionably one of the finest efforts by Miles and his superior cast of players. The album is a rarity for the group in a few ways- Miles does not contirubte a piece to it, nor does Ron Carter, and allowed the mature songwriting of Wayne Shorter,("Fall," "Pinnochio," the title track) and the blossoming art of Herbie Hancock ("Madness," and "Riot") and even Tony Williams ("Hand Jive") to take center stage. The results are a delicious mix of emotional ballads from Shorter and harder edged up-tempo gems from Hancock and Williams, as well as Shorter's "Pinocchio." The album is ripe with the emotion and restlessness that drove the group to greater heights. Shorter's ballads are among the most beautiful he wrote for the group, and each having hummable themes to it, as well. The lyrical talents of Miles and Wayne are augmented by Hancock, who is a much stronger presence on this album than on their prior efforts. Carter and Williams make strong, supple (though never conventional) grooves that allow the soloists to freely sing their hearts out. "Fall" and the title track are among the band's finest lyrical moments ever captured. The up-tempo numbers are no less astounding, encouraging and allowing Carter and Williams to roam free- exploring, and breaking, the boundaries that the traditional constraints of their instruments offered. In many cases, Carter and Williams are equal parts melody and soloist within the ensemble playing, as Hancock lays low and carries the tune's theme. Both Hancock (who really comes into his own on the album) and Williams' enthusiastic playing shows their young age, and the freedom they must have felt within the group. One can easily hear Hancock's wheels turning on his tracks, and can understand how easy the next step to electronic keyboards was for him. These songs beg for them, and would have further enhanced them. Williams' effort is a showcase for his amazing talents, but while he is the heartbeat of the group, he never allows himself to consciously outshine the ensemble like he easily could have. "Nefertiti" is noteworthy as it would turn out to be the last fully acoustic lp Miles would ever do, and what a sendoff acoustic jazz is given. The band was clearly restless on this lp, and that tension heightens the already powerful slate of numbers played, and also clearly foreshadows what "Miles in the Sky" and "Filles de Kilmanjaro" would offer, This lp is an absolute must have- it highlights this amazing group at the peak of their powers, and is as close to a perfect lp as this quintet made.
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
A slow burning masterpieceNov 20, 1999
The colors of this record sound exactly like the album cover, dark & gold. Moody & shimmering, gloomy & probing all at once. Still, the album as a whole has a melancholy feeling, obviously evidenced by many of the song titles. This was probably for some Miles' last "traditional" jazz record (as well as acoustic), before he gave Herbie the electric piano and sent us on a new journey with him. Most of the songs are ballads, and the album has a clever hook to it that I notice jazz musicians make mention of constantly in interviews; the role reversals that the musicians make. Here, Miles, Wayne & Herbie play the same refrains over & over without much variance while the rhythm section slowly twists & bends the tempos. It's really a simple & remarkable approach to jazz. I rarely give in to 5 star reviews as I think you have to approach your idols with some objectivity, but Miles really did pull it off here. A quiet, moving piece of genius.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Vintage MilesMar 19, 2001
By Barbara M. Laman
Most of the reviewer's have said all there is to say. These are great compositions and the alternate takes add so much to the interest of the listener. The comparisons are endless. One note to a potential buyer: Listen to the second alternate take of hand Jive, a take that is mesmerizing and much better than the final cut. Miles has a glaring note mistake at the end and a rhythm error following that which causes him to say "Damn!" in his raspy voice. If not for his mistake, the world would have heard that great take instead of what they got instead. Another note: One has to listen in awe of Tony Williams on this album. He truly was a master of the drums and shows the whole creative arsenal, especially in Pinnochio and hand jive (alt take 2). Enjoy.
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