Bitches Brew

MILES DAVIS
Bitches' Brew
Columbia 460602 2
Recorded 19th-21st August 1969

Produced By Teo Macero

1. Pharaoh's Dance
2. Bitches Brew
3. Spanish Key
4. John McLaughlin
5. Miles Runs The Voodoo Down
6. Sanctuary

PERSONNEL

Miles Davis; trumpet
Wayne Shorter; soprano sax
Lenny White; drums
Bennie Maupin; bass clarinet
Chick Corea; electric piano
Jim Riley; percussion
Jack DeJohnette; drums
Harvey Brooks; fender bass
Charles Alias; drums
Dave Holland; bass
John McLaughlin; electric guitar
Joe Zawinul; electric piano
Larry Young; electric piano

A monumental slab of sound. Jazz for the Hendrix generation - by the Hendrix generation. You can say that of Miles, even though by this time he'd already changed the course of Jazz history three times (and was on the cusp of doing it a fourth - at the age of 43!). The first was with the 'cool jazz' of his early records, signalling a move away from bop; the second with his modal experiments with the first great quintet in the late 50s. The third? Post-bop, arguably his invention through the work of the second great quintet - my favourite jazz band of all time; i'm sure there are few who would disagree with that sentiment. Following the development of their sound, from 'ESP' to 'Filles De Kilimanjaro' is an electrifying experience, and one that maps out the language of jazz that's still used today. Advanced hard-bop? ESP. Funky jazz-fusion? Miles In The Sky. Free Improvisation? 'Filles...' I could go on, but of course we're here to talk about the daddy of jazz-rock-funk-whatever fusion, 'Bitches' Brew'.

Once described as 'the first shot fired in the fusion revolution' it certainly acts as a starting point for much of the rest of the 70s. Trace the careers of any major fusion artist back and they all meet here. Look at that line up - McGlaughlin, Shorter, Zawinul, Corea, Holland, DeJohnette, et al. (and don't forget the likes of Ron Carter and Billy Cobham who participated in the sessions but don't appear here); every one involved in fusion in a major way over the next few years. So universal is 'Bitches'' sound that it could be the first Mahavishnu Orchestra, the first Mwandishi band, the first Weather report LP.

But it's not, it's Miles' through and through. And how does he come over? Like he always does. Languid, cool toned horn playing like in many of his performances, but there's something else here, a real edge to his playing that feels at the same time familiar yet sinister (helped, in no small measure, by the dark funk of the rhythm section - check out the closing passages of the title track to see what i mean). This is not the sound of an elder statesman of jazz resting on his laurels, but it is unmistakeably Miles.

The music? It's constantly in motion; slippery, shifting sands of rhythm underlying the dense textures of the ring-modulated rhodes and horns. Parts come and go, sometimes with no clearly defined sense of structure, but always with moving forward - an effect added to by producer Teo Macero's use of advanced post-production techniques such as tape loops and editing. Amongst the musicians, particular mention must be made of 3 (other than Miles, of course). Wayne Shorter is outstanding throughout on soprano and I've already mentioned Chick Corea's rhodes. Bennie Maupin has a staggering performance on bass clarinet, one of the finest I've heard, and amazingly for a hard/post-bop (until then) player, not at all in the style of the legendary Eric Dolphy. And of course, John McLaughlin, with a contribution significant enough to warrant his own track (where Miles lays out and lets him get on with it).

As Ralph Gleason says in the sleeve note, "the music speaks for itself", so go listen.