Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Davis (trumpet); Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone); Herbie Hancock (piano); Ron Carter (bass); Tony Williams (drums).

Additional personnel: Bob Dorough (vocals); Frank Rehak (trombone); Paul Chambers, Buster Williams (bass); Jimmy Cobb (drums); Willie Bobo (bongos).

Producers: Teo Macero, Irving Townshend.

Reissue producer: Michael Cuscuna, Bob Belden.

Engineers: Frank Laico, Stan Tonkel, Fred Plaut.

Recorded at Columbia Studio B, New York, New York on May 16, 17 & 24, 1967; Columbia Studio A, New York, New York on August 21, 1962; Columbia Studios, Los Angeles, California on May 9, 1967. Includes liner notes by Bob Belden.

Digitally remastered using 20-bit technology by Mark Wilder and Rob Schwarz (Sony Music Studios, New York, New York).

By the time Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams recorded SORCERER in 1967, they were the most acclaimed ensemble in all of jazz. The Miles Davis Quintet had by this time perfected an intuitive style of collective improvisation that distilled the revolutionary changes of '60s jazz, but without rejecting elements of the mainstream tradition. In fact the Quintet's approach to melody, harmony and rhythm on SORCERER and NEFERTITI formed the basis for many of the Marsalis Brothers' popular recording projects of the 1980s.

Wayne Shorter's unique style of voice-leading is showcased on four compositions. "Prince Of Darkness" presents an airborne theme over a swinging, restless pulse, as Carter and (especially) Williams answer Shorter's every parry and thrust with lightning and thunder of their own. On his freely inflected "Masqualero," Shorter fragments the Iberian theme between the horns and Hancock's dark, impressionistic chords; the rhythm is crisp and purposeful one second, nebulous and fanciful the next, inspiring a particularly torrid Davis solo. On "Limbo" Shorter and Davis navigate a delightfully circuitous melody as Williams offers crackling rejoinders, while "Vonetta" is a stately ballad over an irregular martial pulse.

You can hear pianist Hancock revelling in the sound of discovery throughout SORCERER and his long, boppish theme and variations on the classic title tune inspires fervent conversations between Davis and Shorter. SORCERER is perfection from start to finish.