this record was the last one made with all acoustic instruments by miles davis's 'second great quintet'.  comparing this and 'filles de kilimanjaro', the record that immediately followed it chronologically, makes for very interesting listening, because the same players get electric on 'kilimanjaro'.  i'm paraphrasing some other reviewer when i say that, among the really greatest achievements on 'nefertiti' in particular is that it is a record composed of really experimental boundary-pushing music, and yet it comes across almost like easy listening.  take the first two tracks for example.  the horns just mostly repeat the theme, while the rhythm section pushes and pulls underneath.  the result is soothing, and upon close listen, exceedingly captivating if one tunes in to the metric modular experimentation happening underneath it all.  my cousin, dj grape ape, said, 'i think that band became so influential that eventually its mannerisms became a cliche to be avoided... but when u go back to the source, they were really stretching + exploring + just firing on all cylinders.'

_alibi