It has been said that Teo Macero was to Miles Davis what George Martin is to the Beatles.

At some point in the late nineties I noticed that all the records I was listening to, by Charles Mingus, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, were produced by the same individual: Teo Macero. While they were all wonderful albums, Miles Davis’ In A Silent Way stood out for me above all the others.

This wasn’t jazz of any stripe that I recognised. The date on the sleeve – 1969 – defied a sound that even in 1998 sounded new. Even its sister album, the groundbreaking Bitches Brew, recorded at almost the same time and released a year after, sounded less modern or at...