Jimmy Van Heusen's "I Thought About You" receives a delicate ballad treatment on Miles Davis's 1961 album Someday My Prince Will Come. Performed at approximately 56 beats per minute in the key of F, this is one of the album's most intimate moments. Davis's trumpet statement is remarkably brief, spanning just a fraction of a chorus, yet it contains a concentration of emotional power that demonstrates his legendary ability to say more with fewer notes than any other jazz musician. His use of the Harmon mute creates the close, whispering tone quality that became one of the most recognizable sounds in all of music. Hank Mobley follows with a slightly longer statement that carries the tune's romantic mood forward with warm, lyrical phrases on tenor saxophone. The brevity of the solos on this track is itself a statement about Davis's aesthetic philosophy, which valued emotional impact over quantity of notes. Davis's approach to ballad playing, influenced by his study of Ahmad Jamal's use of space, revolutionized how jazz musicians thought about economy and restraint. This performance is a reminder that Davis's greatest innovation may not have been any specific technical or harmonic advance but rather his profound understanding that what you choose not to play can be as powerful as what you do play.
