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Sketches of Spain

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Work

The idea for Sketches of Spain arose when Miles Davis's wife took him to a performance by the flamenco dancer Roberto Iglesias. Afterwards he bought every flamenco record he could find in New York. Together with arranger Gil Evans, with whom he had worked before, he recorded the album between November 1959 and March 1960 at Columbia's 30th Street Studio.

The record is built around the second movement of Joaquín Rodrigo's guitar concerto Concierto de Aranjuez, which takes up almost half of the record. Evans adapted it into an almost symphonic sound world, in which Davis plays first on flugelhorn and later on trumpet. The remaining pieces are largely derived from Spanish folk music. The album is regarded as an example of third stream, a hybrid of jazz, classical music and world music. DownBeat wrote warmly about it, and Evans and Davis won a Grammy in 1961.

Listening

Listening tip. In Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio), listen to how the flugelhorn first plays the melody faithfully and how Gil Evans's orchestra then builds a darker world of its own around that melody.

Track list

  1. 1Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio)16:22Apple Music ↗
  2. 2Will O' the Wisp3:50Apple Music ↗
  3. 3The Pan Piper3:57Apple Music ↗
  4. 4Saeta5:36Apple Music ↗
  5. 5Solea12:15Apple Music ↗

30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗

Categories: Albums and songs