3CD Box set examining the influence on modern artists of the music of Spain. With a detailed 36-page booklet tracing it's heritage. 'Sketches of Spain' was the third album where arranger Gil Evans was called upon to create an entire sound world for Miles Davis. Spanish themes had been in evidence on the first of the series, ('Miles Ahead') but 'Sketches... ' delivered a complete Spanish musical landscape. A formidable challenge that nevertheless proved to be within the powers of Davis and Evans at their artistic peak. In Downbeat Magazine, Bill Mathieu wrote: "This record is one of the most important musical triumphs our century has yet produced. It brings together under the same aegis two realms that in the past have often worked against one another - the world of the heart and the world of the mind... what is involved here is the unison of ideas with emotion, pre- composition with improvisation, discipline with spontaneity... If there is to be a new jazz, a shape of things to come, then this is the beginning. " Evans and Davis were scarcely the first modern musicians to be captivated by the mysteries of Spanish music. Davis (with the pianist Bill Evans) had already created the shimmering 'Flamenco Sketches' for the imperious 'Kind Of Blue' (commercially, the most successful jazz album of all time), while John Coltrane's inspired response to these explorations would be the labyrinthine, raga-like 'Olé'. Maurice Ravel's Spanish heritage is revealed by his Bolero, inspired by the minimalist repetition that is at the heart of Flamenco and much admired by such pop luminaries as Beatles producer George Martin; Frank Zappa of the Mothers of Invention and the late Jeff Beck ('Beck's Bolero'); while Claude Debussy sculpted the sensuous sonic-postcard that is Iberia, the central panel of the 'Images' triptych. Django Reinhardt played the introspective 'Echoes of Spain' to the master guitarist Andrés Segovia, who, dazzled, demanded a score, only for Django to shrug that the piece was, "merely an improvisation"

Track List

1. Flamenco Sketches Miles Davis Sextet/Miles Davis with Gil Evans
2. Orchestra -'Sketches of Spain'
3. Concierto de Aranjuez - Adagio
4. Will O'The Wisp
5. The Pan Piper
6. Saeta
7. Solea
8. Miles Davis with Gil Evans Orchestra from 'Miles Ahead' -Maids of Cadiz
9. Blues for Pablo
10. Olé John Coltrane
11. Echoes of Spain -Django Reinhardt
12. Alborada Del Gracioso Maurice Ravel Maurice Ravel - Rapsodie Espagnole Orchestre National de L'opéra de Paris / Conductor: Manuel Rosenthal
13. Prélude À la Nuit
14. Malagueña
15. Habanera
16. Feria-Manuel de Falla - Nights in the Gardens of Spain National Orchestra of Spain / Conductor: Ataúlfo Argenta
17. Gonzalo Soriano: Piano
18. En El Generalife
19. Danza Lejana
20. En los Jardines de la Sierra de Córdoba-Claude Debussy - Images for Orchestra No. 2 : Ibéria Orchestre National de L'opéra de Paris / Conductor: Manuel Rosenthal
21. Par Les Rues Et Par Les Chemins
22. Les Parfums de la Nuit / Le Matin D'un Jour de Fête
23. Boléro Maurice Ravel
24. Wind Quintet - First Movement Roberto Gerhard the London Wind Quintet
25. En los Trigales Joaquín Rodrigo-Julian Bream: Guitar
26. Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte Maurice Ravel Julian Bream: Guitarissac Albéniz Alicia de Larrocha: Piano
27. Evocación from Iberia Book I
28. Jérez from Iberia Book 4
29. Duelo de Campanas Sabicas
30. Danza Del Molinero Manuel de Falla Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Conductor: Ernest Ansermet Andante from Concierto Del Sur Manuel Ponce
31. Andrés Segovia: Guitar Symphony of the Air / Conductor: Enrique Jorda
32. Homenaje "Le Tombeau de Debussy" Manuel de Falla
33. Andrés Segovia: Guitar
34. Fandanguillo Joaquin Turina Andrés Segovia: Guitar
35. La Sérénade Interrompue from Préludes Book I Claude Debussy Walter Gieseking: Piano
36. Andaluza from Danzas Españolas Enrique Granados the London Symphony Orchestra / Conductor: Ataúlfo Argenta
37. Quejas O la Maja y El Ruiseñor from Goyescas Alicia de Larrocha: Piano
38. Final Movement from Concierto de Castilla Federico Torroba Renata Tarragó: Guitar. Orquesta de Conciertos de Madrid / Conductor: Jesús Arámbarri
39. Adagio from Concierto de Aranjuez Joaquín Rodrigo Renata Tarragó: Guitar. Orquesta de Conciertos de Madrid / Conductor: Odón Alonso
40. El Testament D'amèlia Miguel Llobet Alirio Díaz: Introduction and Guitar