Miles Davis' Self-Proclaimed "Directions in Music" March Begins with Filles de Kiliminjaro: Landmark 1968 Effort Recognized as His Prelude Into Full-On Fusion

Mastered from the Original Master Tapes: Mobile Fidelity's Numbered-Edition 180g 45RPM 2LP Features Luscious Tones and Wide Dynamics

1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe

Miles Davis' move into full-on fusion starts here. Abandoning his bebop roots and chasing electric dreams, rock-based rhythms, and ostinato pulses, the icon gives life to new music forms on Filles de Kilimanjaro, a titanic release prized for its historical significance and lasting beauty. Grounded and focused, the five compositions unfold like a unified suite. Such peak lyricism, flourishes, and phrases are experienced in the highest fidelity on Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition 45RPM 2LP set.

Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, this collectible audiophile version of Filles de Kilimanjaro joins other essential Davis sets given supreme sonic and packaging treatment by Mobile Fidelity. Loaded with revealing signatures, the record takes on even greater import when heard the way Davis and his mates discerned it in the studio. Backgrounds are ink black, pianissimo lines shimmer, and the electric piano emerges with tube-amp warmth.

Indeed, the exotic sound, touch, and feel of the songs on Filles de Kilimanjaro are as crucial as the melodies. To that extent, listeners can now enjoy the expressive tonalities and lush colors from each instrument in full-range glory. Voicings, harmonics, and pitches are rendered with exquisite detail. The manners in which the textures and phrases rotate what seems like a unified tonal center places you at the original recording sessions, executed in July and September 1968.

The final appearance of Davis' classic second quintet bears fruit on three of the record's cuts, including the title track and R&B-tinted "Frelon Brun." Sparked with restrained funk, driving grooves, and bluesy accents, Filles de Kilimanjaro maintains an instinctive flow and controlled fredom that permit Davis to oversee an innovative blending of alterations, improvisation, and cycles. Comprised of multiple sections, "Petits Machins" is a lesson in perfectly played melodic complexity, with chromatic riffs, dominant chords, syncopated progressions, and switching meters forming a singular mosaic.

Filles de Kilimanjaro also represents a jumping-off point for Davis' lineup. For the September sessions, Chick Corea replaced Herbie Hancock while Dave Holland relieved Ron Carter. The new additions speak a different albeit common language, fitting in with Davis' desire to draw from rock and weave funk into open-minded excursions filled with exoticism, soulfulness, and wonder.

More than 40 years ago, this record epitomized the future of jazz. Davis even announced such aspirations with the tagline "Directions in Music." With the jazz world still trying to wrap its collective mind around its genius, it still does.

"There was an unpleasant dryness and starkness to the sound of these originals accompanied by unpleasant grain. That is why it is easy to write that these three reissues [of Sorcerer, Nefertiti, and Filles de Kilimanjaro] from Mobile Fidelity sound far superior to the originals. They are far more transparent, detailed and texturally more supple as well as being harmonically more fully fleshed out."
– Michael Fremer, Analog Planet