Sketches Of Spain (UltraDisc One-Step)＜完全生産限定盤＞

1960年発売 マイルス・デイヴィス『Sketches of Spain』をモービル・フィデリティ社の究極のアナログ盤規格「ULTRADISC ONE-STEP」で復刻。

1960年作品。スペインをモチーフにギルとマイルスのコラボレーションが作り上げた音世界の傑作。作曲家ホアキン・ロドリーゴがクラシック・ギターのために書いた「アランフェス協奏曲」は、このアルバムで演奏されたことによって幅広いリスナーやミュージシャンに広まった。ドラマティックなメロディ、そして哀愁と熱情に満ちたオーケストラ・サウンド。

◆「ULTRADISC ONE-STEP」(UD1S)シリーズ
独自のテクノロジーとマスタリング技術、そして贅沢な時間を駆使し、マスター・テープのデータを限界まで引き出したハイ・クオリティな復刻盤により世界中のオーディオファンから高い評価を得ているモービル・フィデリティ・サウンド・ラボ社より、究極のアナログ盤規格「ULTRADISCONE-STEP」(UD1S)シリーズが登場。標準的なアナログ盤の生産工程である、ラッカー盤から完成品までの「スリー・ステップ・プロセス」から2工程を省き、あくまで音質を重視した「ワン・ステップ・プロセス」を実現。生産工程で発生するノイズを最小限に抑え、音のディテールの再現性とダイナミクスを大幅に向上させている。「音楽は可能な限り原音に忠実に再現されなければならない。」という、モービル・フィデリティ社設立以来の基本ポリシーを文字通り実現した、究極のアナログ盤規格である。

Along with Kind of Blue, In a Silent Way, and Round About Midnight, Sketches of Spain is one of Miles Davis' most enduring and innovative achievements. Recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 -- after Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley had left the band -- Davis teamed with Canadian arranger Gil Evans for the third time. Davis brought Evans the album's signature piece, "Concierto de Aranjuez," after hearing a classical version of it at bassist Joe Mondragon's house. Evans was as taken with it as Davis was, and set about to create an entire album of material around it. The result is a masterpiece of modern art. On the "Concierto," Evans' arrangement provided an orchestra and jazz band -- Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Elvin Jones -- the opportunity to record a classical work as it was. The piece, with its stunning colors and intricate yet transcendent adagio, played by Davis on a flugelhorn with a Harmon mute, is one of the most memorable works to come from popular culture in the 20th century. Davis' control over his instrument is singular, and Evans' conducting is flawless. Also notable are "Saeta," with one of the most amazing technical solos of Davis' career, and the album's closer, "Solea," which is conceptually a narrative piece, based on an Andalusian folk song, about a woman who encounters the procession taking Christ to Calvary. She sings the narrative of his passion and the procession -- or parade -- with full brass accompaniment moving along. Cobb and Jones, with flamenco-flavored percussion, are particularly wonderful here, as they allow the orchestra to indulge in the lushly passionate arrangement Evans provided to accompany Davis, who was clearly at his most challenged here, though he delivers with grace and verve. Sketches of Spain is the most luxuriant and stridently romantic recording Davis ever made. To listen to it in the 21st century is still a spine-tingling experience, as one encounters a multitude of timbres, tonalities, and harmonic structures seldom found in the music called jazz. ~ Thom Jurek