[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1380881517' post='2231815']
One of the things I like about In a Silent way is the minimalism of the drums. I mean, they've got Tony Williams sat behind a kit, one of the all-time great drummers and he plays hi-hat only for the whole of side one and mostly snare rim for much of side two, only using the whole kit for a few minutes of the album. It strikes me you'd need some real confidence to do something as sparse as that!
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From start to finish it's an ensemble masterclass in economy and beautiful understatement.
The out-takes (as well as Filles) point to this. Like i said above, it wasn't all about grabbing on the coat-tails of funk during this period; Miles was concerned with far more than that.