Miles Davis recorded Bitches Brew in August 1969. It remains an important album for the era and for the development of rock-oriented jazz as well as jazz-oriented rock. Some of the tunes had been introduced into the live book of the regular quintet since May or June, ‘Miles Runs The Voodoo Down’ being the first one.
April 2010 marked the fortieth anniversary of the release of Bitches Brew. In the short time since then, the album has been re-released a few times, each time with additional live versions of the tunes. The concert registrations of the Bitches Brew material have been released officially on 1969 Miles: Festiva de Juan Pins (25 June 1969 performance), Bitches Brew Legacy Edition and Bitches Brew 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition (4 November 1969 performance), Live at the Fillmore East (7 March 1970 performance), Black Beauty (10 April 1970 performance), At Fillmore (17-20 June 1970 performances) Bitches Brew 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition (18 August 1970 performance), Isle of Wight (29 August 1970 performance).
The latest in this long list is Bitches Brew Live. Although all the live albums have their merits – they show both a band and a set of tunes in development over a 14-month period – Bitches Brew Live adds to this as it presents both the first and last officially recorded performances of the Bitches Brew material. The second half of the disc, tracks 4-9, ‘Directions’ through to ‘The Theme’, comprises the 29 August 1970 Isle of Wight show in its entirety. It is the first time this show is available on CD outside of the mammoth Complete Columbia Album Collection.
The four titles, ‘Miles Run The Voodoo Down’, ‘Sanctuary’, ‘It’s About That Time’, ‘The Theme’, tracks 1-3, seem to be all that remains from a recording at the Newport Jazz Festival, 5 July 1969. (Most likely, the quartet played a 30 or 45 min. set, which means that at least one more title was played – probably ‘Directions’.) The Miles Davis Quintet shared the matinee bill with the Newport Jazz All Stars, the Gary Burton Quartet, John Mayall, and the Mothers of Invention. Although booked as the Miles Davis Quintet, only a quartet played. Saxophonist Wayne Shorter did not make it to Newport, he was stuck in traffic. This makes the gig unique as Miles had not been recorded playing in the quartet format since the Ascenseur pour l’Échafaud sessions in Paris, December 1957. And it makes for some very fiery playing too. ‘Miles Runs The Voodoo Down’ is faded in and not much seems to be missing from this track. Davis’s first solo sets the pace, it is drawn out to make up for Wayne Shorter’s solo, and it shows his development since working with this new group of musicians. Corea plays some funky vamps and his solo is a lot more chord based than in France later that month. Davis’s second solo quotes substantially from ‘Petits Machins’ from Filles de Kilimanjaro and starts to set the pace for the slower ‘Sanctuary’.
The Isle of Wight show presents the last official recording of the Bitches Brew material. The Miles Davis band had grown from the regular 1969 quintet into a septet with slightly different personel. Wayne Shorter’s last gig was in March 1970, by which time he had been replaced by Steve Grossman, who was replaced subsequently by Gary Bartz in early August 1970. Airto Moreira joined the band in November 1969 after the quintet had returned from a European tour. Keith Jarrett joined in May 1970. This septet moved the music in a new direction. The interplay between Jarrett’s organ and Corea’s electric piano made for a whirlwind of cacophonous sounds, while Moreira’s otherworldly percussion added to the atmosphere of weirdness. This band only worked together for a few months, the Isle of Wight show being the last one before Corea and Holland’s departure, but fortunately their music has been captured on a few recordings.
The repetition of ‘Sanctuary’ and ‘It’s About That Time’ gives ample opportunity for comparison. Both pieces were common features in the repertoire, with ‘Sanctuary’ being played at all but a handful of dates between July 1969 and November 1971, after which it became the set closing replacement of ‘The Theme’. With its simple melodic line, ‘Sanctuary’ represented a moment of serenity in the set, albeit briefly. The development of ‘It’s About That Time’ has been quite substantial. Quite a slow vehicle for soloing during the sessions for the In A Silent Way album, it soon became a wild and fierce piece in the live context. The Newport take here is still relatively quiet, with some great soloing by Davis and Corea. By the time it gets to the Isle of Wight, ‘It’s About That Time’ has become a cacophony of sounds, where Jarrett and Corea turn the melody inside out while Holland keeps playing around it. It is DeJohnette, however, who increases the pace further, and with Moreira’s rainforest sounds it becomes the perfect mid-set piece.
A must for fans of the Bitches Brew material.
Tracks: 1. Miles Runs The Voodoo Down; 2. Sanctuary; 3. It’s About That Time/The Theme; 4. Directions; 5. Bitches Brew; 6. It’s About That Time; 7. Sanctuary; 8. Spanish Key; 9. The Theme
Players: (Newport) Miles Davis (tpt), Chick Corea (el-p), Dave Holland (b), Jack DeJohnette (d); (IoW) Miles Davis (t), Gary Bartz (as, ss), Chick Corea (el-p), Keith Jarrett (org), Dave Holland (b), Jack DeJohnette (d), Airto Moreira (perc).
