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Sketches of Spain was Miles Davis and Gil Evansâ third conceptual album (they had worked together back in the late 1940s on the celebrated âBirth of the Coolâ nonet sessions and would record their first conceptual LP Miles Ahead in 1957, followed by their adaptation of George Gershwinâs music for Porgy and Bess in 1958). The trumpeter stated in his autobiography that the whole thing came out of listening to Spanish composer JoaquÃn Rodrigoâs âConcierto de Aranjuezâ. Even though the slow movement of âConcierto de Aranjuezâ was the main feature of the album (Miles and Gil later performed it live at Carnegie Hall), its original composer, JoaquÃn Rodrigo, wasnât pleased with the Davis-Evans version. As Miles stated: âI liked the record and thought everybody played well on it and that Gil had arranged his ass off, but it didnât have a large impact on me. Joaquin Rodrigo, the composer of Concierto de Aranjuez, said he didnât like the record, and he âhis composition âwas the reason I did Sketches of Spain in the first place. Since he was getting a royalty for the use of the song on the record, I told this person who had played it for him, âLetâs see if he likes it after he starts getting those big royalty checksâ. I never heard anything about or from him after that.â Despite JoaquÃn Rodrigoâs reaction, Sketches of Spain was extremely successful from the start.