Miles Davis

Sketches of Spain

First released1960

Sketches of Spain was recorded between 1960 and 1968 at Columbia Records' studios in New York, primarily at 30th Street Studio, with producer Teo Macero overseeing the sessions. The album marked Miles Davis's first collaboration with Spanish classical guitarist Carlos Bonilla and featured orchestral arrangements by Evans, recorded with a jazz quintet and strings to create an innovative fusion of Spanish music, classical forms, and modern jazz. The recording sessions were notably experimental for their time, utilizing multi-track recording technology to layer different instrumental sections, allowing Davis to add his trumpet parts separately from the orchestral arrangements. The extended production timeline reflected Davis's perfectionist approach and the complexity of merging disparate musical traditions, with Macero's editing playing a crucial role in shaping the final compositions. Released in 1960, the album was influential in establishing modal jazz and world music fusion as viable artistic directions during the height of the cool jazz era.