Of all the recording sessions completed by
Miles Davis with his various bands, the sessions surrounding
In a Silent Way Sessions in 1968 and 1969 are easily the most mysterious and enigmatic. For starters, they signified the completion of his transformation from acoustic to electric sound, and secondly, they marked the complete dissolution of the "second" quintet of
Davis,
Herbie Hancock,
Tony Williams,
Wayne Shorter, and
Ron Carter that had begun on
Filles de Kilimanjaro. The addition of
Chick Corea as a second keyboard player and the replacement of
Ron Carter with
Dave Holland had changed the sound of the band's dynamic, textural, and rhythmic palettes. The final break with
Davis' own previous musical sound happened when he added guitarist
John McLaughlin and keyboardist/composer
Joe Zawinul (for a temporary three-keyboard sound).