- Release Info -------------------------------------------------------------- -
Artist: Miles Davis
Album: Bitches Brew Live
Label: Sony Legacy
Playtime: 59:41 min
Genre: Jazz
URL: http://www.last.fm/music/Miles%2520Davis
Rip date: 2011-02-04
Street date: 2011-02-08
Size: 84.39 MB
Type: Normal
Quality: 185 kbps / 4410kHz / Joint Stereo
- Release Notes ------------------------------------------------------------- -
Before looking into the musical quality on Bitches Brew Live, it's important
to note for cost-conscious consumers that none of this material appeared on
the Bitches Brew: 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition or the 40th
Anniversary Deluxe Edition. The material contained here is compiled from two
concert performances. The first three tracks were taken from the Newport Jazz
Festival in July of 1969, preceding the release of the album by nine months.
The last six were recorded at 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, four months after
the album hit store shelves. The three cuts from Newport -- "Miles Runs the
Voodoo Down," "Sanctuary," and "It's About That Time/The Theme" -- are
previously unreleased. (In fact, "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" is the first
professionally recorded version of the song, and this disc provides the
first-known recording of the radically rearranged -- and electrified --
"Sanctuary.") The band on these tracks includes Davis, Chick Corea, Dave
Holland, and Jack DeJohnette. Miles is firing on all cylinders on these
tunes. Despite electricity and the beginning of the vamp style he would
perfect later, his trademark lyricism as a soloist is ever present. Corea's
pianism walks a beautiful line between physical comping and atmospheric
harmonic counter statements on "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down." The final six
cuts did appear on the massive box set Complete Columbia Albums, but have not
been widely circulated. The group for the Isle of Wight gig featured an
expanded lineup that included saxophonist Gary Bartz, Keith Jarrett on organ,
and percussionist Airto Moreira, in addition to the players mentioned above.
The fascinating thing about the 1970 band was its intensity and ambition. The
versions of "Directions" and "Bitches Brew" are slightly more abstract;
edgier, darker, more ambiguous. The reading of "Spanish Key" is downright
funky thanks to the rhythm section. It also provides a fine showcase for
Bartz's alto soloing, which is soulfully modal even when it makes conscious
nods to Coltrane. One would think that because Davis was playing in front of
different audiences, these two performances would contrast, or even clash.
Not so; the music here feels continuous, of a piece. For Davis fans, Bitches
Brew Live is essential: it's inspired, full of surprise twists and turns, and
showcases the artist at a high point of both creativity and energy.
- Track List ---------------------------------------------------------------- -
01. Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (10:27)
02. Sanctuary ( 3:58)
03. It's About That Time/The Theme ( 9:44)
04. Directions ( 7:31)
05. Bitches Brew (10:09)
06. It's About That Time ( 6:17)
07. Sanctuary ( 1:10)
08. Spanish Key ( 8:15)
09. The Theme ( 2:10)
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