In A Silent Way consists of two long, impressionistic pieces, each divided into a central jam and two identical book-ends. It's best heard in one sitting; the restlessness of Shhh/Peaceful sets up a mood which is resolved by In a silent way/It's about that time.

The Silent Way is an approach to teaching languages that is based on explicit ideas about how people learn, about the nature of language and about how foreign languages are best taught. Applied in the classroom, they lead to the teacher being largely silent, a striking aspect of the approach which gave it its name.