• 180 g virgin vinyl
• MFSL (Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs)
The album pairs Miles Davis with arranger and composer Gil Evans, with whom he had collaborated on several other projects, on a program of compositions largely derived from the Spanish folk tradition. The opening piece, taking up almost half the record, is an arrangement by Evans and Davis of the adagio movement of Concierto de Aranjuez, a concerto for guitar by the contemporary Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo. Davis plays flugelhorn and later trumpet, attempting to connect the various settings musically.
Sketches of Spain is widely considered by fans and critics to be one of the most accessible albums of Davis' career. It is less improvisational than much of his other work. Replying to suggestions that Sketches of Spain was something other than jazz, Davis told Rolling Stone magazine, "It's music, and I like it"