Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (August 1969-February 1970) [2004 Reissue] [Long Box] by Miles Davis

How can I describe Miles Davis Bitches Brew? It sure isn't traditional Miles Davis, I can tell you that! (and forgive me oh epiword filter, but that is the name that Miles gave to this album)

Imagine if you will taking a hallucinogenic drug. I don't take drugs myself, but I did see Requiem for a Dream and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

I placed Miles Davis Disc Three of this superb box set into my Pioneer Elite CD player. For effect, I set the sound field on my Yamaha Receiver to Neural Surround, a sort of artificial (but very effective) surround sound in five channels created from stereo sources. I sit back in my leather recliner and begin to listen to Miles Davis.

I push the button to slide the seat back, and it glides back. I relax as I listen to Miles and his band play. But the button is stuck. My seat keeps reclining, and soon I am not looking at my bank of Cambridge Soundwork speakers, but up and out of my living room window into the night sky. As the recliner continues to ease back, it flips sliding through the window, into the night sky, the stars rushing up. I am no longer in my living room. I am in the middle of the Bitches Brew. Not since I first discovered the early music of Pink Floyd have I been in such psychedelic heaven. There are 6 tracks listed on Disc 3 of this set; Trevere (5:55), The Big Green Serpent (3:35), The Little Blue Frog (alternate take 12:13), the Little Blue Frog (master take 9:09), Lonely Fire (21:09) and Guinnevere (21:07). To me, there was only one long extended amazing track, a trip through my innermost mind and outermost space. I absolutely loved the instruments cavorting around me from all sides playing here and there, yet forming a sort of cohesive maelstrom of sound. The tracks all blended together into one incredible jazz experience until some 70 minutes later, the CD ended, and I was back in my living room. Wow, I never knew jazz could be like this!

Backing up a Bit

I enjoy the music of Miles Davis, he was the first classic Jazz artist that I listened to. Soon after came Coltrane, then Monk, and Getz and.. well you get the picture. I have heard several "traditional" style jazz recordings by Miles Davis that sounded like I thought jazz would sound. Albums like 'Round Midnight and In a Silent Way made me feel like I was in a cool film noir. On my last trip to the Pembroke Public Library, I see a huge box set with Miles Davis's face plastered on the front and two words Bitches Brew. I immediately checked it out. This is not the single CD Bitches Brew either, this is the full four CD set with all the Bitches Brew sessions included. I didn't get a listen until I got home later that day (I had a book on tape in the car), but it really did open my ears.

Disc One Despite my intro with disc three, I did start with disc one, which contained but four songs;
Pharoah's Dance (20:05), Bitches Brew (26:58), Spanish Key (17:32) and John McLaughlin (4:22). The first thing I noticed of course was that this wasn't the mellow Miles of the legendary quintet with Impulse records, or even the really mellow Miles of every film noir soundtrack I've ever heard on famous Columbia label recordings. No, this was even more of a departure from the Miles I knew than Sketches of Spain.

For starters, this four disc set wasn't a quintet, it was a whole group of musicians! For starters of course was Miles Davis on trumpet, then Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Bennie Maupin on bass clarinet, Joe Zawinul on electric piano (left), Chick Corea on electric piano (right) (yeah two electric pianos, one for each stereo channel!), John McLaughlin on electric guitar, Dave Holland on standing bass, Harvey Brooks on electric bass, Lenny White on drums (left), Jack DeJohnette drums (right) Don Alias on congas and Jumma Santos on shakers. That is just the session information on the song Bitches Brew. Each song on this four disc set had a slightly different line up, but many featured separate drummers and pianists for the left and right channels and all songs included well over a quintets worth of musicians! On a few songs Khalil Balakrishna played the sitar, on other tracks Airto Moreira played the cuica and the berimbau (and I don't even know what those instruments are!). These sessions are a cornucopia of music that just surrounded my head.

Pharoah's Dance gives us a swift guided tour of what's to come, the album doesn't start off gently, right from disc one track one, we know we are in for a jazz trip we'll never forget. A twenty minute jam session, the band goes everywhere at once, yet they are all harmonious. Miles trumpet leads the way into a strange new world of what happens AFTER midnight. It is an instrumental that fascinates upon first listen, but doesn't even begin to reveal all of its secrets without many more listens. (by the way, all 4 discs are instrumentals, no singing anywhere, although there are a few spoken words here and there). If jazz was Jurassic Park, Bitches Brew would be Site B. The jazz in the main park is refined and ready for public consumption, but the jazz at Site B is wild and untamed. I stopped trying to put my mind around this album, and just let it drift along with it.

There are no standard dum dum dum stand up bass riffs or steady drums to anchor you while the melodies drift, the whole set of sessions tosses you about like a small boat in a big storm.

I won't give you a track by track description of this CD set, it isn't really about the individual songs, its about the music as a whole. Honestly, while I listened to each of the CDs, I didn't really notice when one song ended and another began, the music just flowed and went in various directions.

Disc Two

Disc two starts off with Miles Runs the Voodoo down (14:01). Also included are Sanctuary (10:56), Great Expectations (13:45), Orange Lady (13:50), Yaphet (9:39) and Corrado (13:11). Again, I'm not doing a track by track description, the best I can describe it as is the love child of a traditional jazz ensemble and early Pink Floyd raised in the 60s.

Overall though, the use of double drums and double electric pianos creates a great musical landscape for the horns and the guitar to play off. It really breaks up the traditional soundscape of drums to the rear, bass to the left, sax and trumpet center. The music surrounds you. You can clearly identify each instrument, the albums don't make use of studio tricks other than overdubs and loops. The sounds of the instruments themselves are not altered. You can clearly hear Miles mellow (and not so mellow) trumpet. I really loved the addition of the electric jazz guitar, it added a lot to the feel of the music. Although traditional melodies are not present, the sound is very musical, not the least bit chaotic or discordant. These guys play great together.

Disc Three

I've already described disc three, weren't you paying attention?

Disc Four

I found this final disc to have a mellower feel to it, although it was still just as psychedelic. The music just felt more like it was coming in for a landing.
The tracks included are Feio (11:49), Double Image (8:25), Recollections (18:54), Take it or Leave it (2:13) and another take of Double Image (5:52). The musical trip feeling was still there, but I would note that this is the only disc of the four that I could fall asleep to. Not that it was boring, no not at all, but it just had a mellower feel to it with no sudden changes of musical direction, nor any loud surprising solos that jump out behind you.

The Booklet

This set also includes a long booklet that opens with commentary by Carlos Santana entitled Remembering Miles Bitches Brew written in 1998.

The track listings are followed by very detailed session notes. I have given you a basic outline of the musicians involved, but you can get a track by track listing of who played what on each track in this set.

Following that are additional comments on Miles Davis, the late 60s, and the magical 8 day recording session back in 1969 that resulted in the Bitches Brew Sessions.

Summary

Wow, listening to jazz reminds me of the feelings I had when I first listened to rock n' roll. Each new album would bring new wonders, and then I was blown away when I discovered the likes of Jimi Hendrix and early Pink Floyd. I've really been enjoying exploring jazz, and Bitches Brew was like discovering yet another door that led into a completely new set of experiences. I loved hearing this music, I can't even imagine what it was like to listen to back in '69. The more I listen to these sessions, the more I discover and enjoy them. Epinions won't let me type the album title Miles Davis Bitches Brew and it won't let me give six stars, so I give Bitches Brew six stars.