Miles Davis Sketches of Spain Numbered Limited Edition UltraDisc One-Step 33rpm 180g LP Box Set

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Miles Davis' Final and Most Impressive Collaboration with Arranger Gil Evans Yields Watershed Innovations: Sketches of Spain Spins Graceful Webs of Sound and Emotion

Strictly Limited to 12,500 Copies, Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM LP Set Housed in Sleek Slipcase: Reissue Brings Out the Record's Full Spectrum of Color

Flamenco-Themed Work Features Synergy Between Orchestrations and Lyrical Jazz Phrasings

Miles Davis and Gil Evans bridged styles and collaborated on high-concept projects three different times during their celebrated careers. For their final act, they created Sketches of Spain, a peak moment in each luminary's legacy. The transformative album weds Spanish themes, lush orchestrations, romantic timbres, and Davis' increasingly lyrical methods in a tender ceremony that resonates more than six decades after its original release.

A crucial part of the next phase of Mobile Fidelity's Miles Davis restoration series, the 1960 landmark has been afforded the ultimate white-gloves treatment. Mastered from the 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 64 to analog console to lathe, pressed on dead-quiet vinyl at RTI, and strictly limited to 12,500 copies, the label's exquisite UltraDisc One-Step 33RPM 180g LP set dramatically expands the soundstages and eradicates a dryness that many critics found inhibitive to the record's enjoyment. Listeners can now hear the full perspective long deserved by the woodwinds, strings, and percussion, all of which come alive with unprecedented definition and detail.

The premium packaging and beautiful presentation of the numbered-edition UD1S Sketches of Spain pressing befit the record's historical importance. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, the reissue features a special foil-stamped jacket and faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the 1960 LP. This UD1S set is made for discerning listeners who prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves with the album. And who wouldn't want to go deep with Sketches of Spain?

Whether it is the somber mood piece "Concierto de Aranjuez," renowned for Davis' flugelhorn performance, or the folktale-based "Solea," Sketches of Spain transfixes with playing, ideas, and innovations exclusive to this incomparable effort. It's one reason why Mobile Fidelity's engineers took every available measure to insert listeners into the space originally occupied by Davis, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Jimmy Cobb, percussionist Elvin Jones, and an 18-piece orchestra. The results are as breathtaking as the music.

Multi-note motifs, brief improvisational solos, fanfare sweeps, and contrapuntal exchanges inform flamenco-spiced pieces. Davis' famous Harmon-muted trumpet is complemented by an assortment of bassoons and French horns. Heard together, they create pleasing contrasts and sounds (pp, mf, ppp) that get to what resides at the heart of Sketches of Spain: color. Seldom, if ever, did Davis ever so expressively and liberally paint with color. And in Evans, he has a likewise-minded partner to help draw out tones, shades, layers, and textures. What they achieved continues in the 21st century to draw praise from the entire music community.

Deemed "a work of unparalleled grace and lyricism" by noted scribe J.D. Considine, bestowed a five-star review from DownBeat, and noted by Q to have taken "jazz in a new direction, the Grammy Award-winning effort has never sounded or looked better.

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) technique bypasses generational losses inherent to the traditional three-step plating process by removing two steps: the production of father and mother plates, which are created to yield numerous stampers from each lacquer that is cut. For UD1S plating, stampers (also called "converts") are made directly from the lacquers. Since each lacquer yields only one stamper, multiple lacquers need to be cut. Mobile Fidelity's UD1S process produces a final LP with the lowest-possible noise floor. The removal of two steps of the plating process also reveals musical details and dynamics that would otherwise be lost due to the standard multi-step process. With UD1S, every aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the best-sounding vinyl album available today.