1969's Super Nova was begun mere days after Shorter's participation in Miles Davis' fusion masterpiece Bitches Brew, and it includes much of the same personnel. In fact, half the tracks are Shorter compositions that Miles had cut a few years earlier, though the Davis versions weren't released until 1976. What a difference two years make—on the Miles sessions, "Sweet Pea," "Capricorn," and "Water Babies" were framed as relatively straightforward bop (or at least post-bop) tunes, but on Super Nova they're turned inside out, creating sort of cubist versions of the earlier interpretations. Shorter's Bitches Brew bandmates John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, and Jack DeJohnette let their freak flags fly, contributing as much freewheeling, outward-bound playing as possible on the ostensibly "composed" tunes. Things move even further out on the other cuts, especially when six-string deconstructionist Sonny Sharrock chimes in on "More Than Human" and the most avant-garde setting for Antonio Carlos Jobim's bossa nova classic "Dindi" that you've ever heard.