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

It is easy to agree that in the year 1969, every style of music was inventively being written and performed with a vast amount of freshness and originality. Salient expression was everywhere, in Motown, Rock, Jazz, Soul and Blues. But not only in music, but as well in movies, theater, books, sports, in schools across the planet, in society, at work, at home and in life. It was the year of Woodstock, the illustrious Rock Opera, "Tommy", Joe Namath's prediction (and accomplishment) to beat football's mighty establishment, the NFL's Baltimore Colts, the funky brass sound of James Brown was in the air, is was the year that Dizzie Gillespie, Dave Brubeck, J.J. Johnson, Clark Terry and Louie Bellson held a jam session at the White House for a formal dinner held by President Nixon, and it was the year of Apollo 11 and man's first step on the moon, and those famous words spoken from the moon, ".....one giant leap for mankind", which best summed up the end of an historical decade. 1969 was absolutely a profound year for experimenting and delivering artistic freedom in music, that would reach an imperative plateau that would shape the fashion for the 70's, and in many cases, till this day.

Rock Music was certainly at its underlying best. The Beatles, the Stones, Bob Dylan were at the top of their game. Led Zeppelin released their self titled debut album, Black Sabbath made their significant debut recording, the birth of Grand Funk Railroad, Janis Joplin, Steppenwolf, the West Coast scene was happening with Jefferson Airplane, the Doors, Santana, Iron Butterfly, the Grateful Dead and others, but it was Jimi Hendrix that continued to keep the world on fire with his amazing pious guitar wizardry that would highly appeal to both fans and musicians worldwide. One of the musicians that was reconditely fascinated with Jimi's musical prestidigitation was the innovative genius and world renown trumpeter, bandleader and composer, Miles Davis.

Miles Davis is single handedly responsible for so many of improvisational techniques that are still being used to this day. He had an inherent knack for hiring fine talented players, regardless of age or race, and exploring new boundaries and breaking barriers with his improvisations, arrangements and compositions. While doing so, he managed to turn these talented players into highly successful solo artists, something he had been doing since the late 50's.

Jazz was going through its bit of transition as well in 1969, with new timing patterns and a few added instruments, but for the most part, jazz music still managed to maintain its traditional be-bop custom tone. Miles Davis was everything but traditional. That was eminently obvious early in his career when he was trading chops with Charlie "Bird" Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. His willingness to embrace new challenges is heard in his earlier masterworks, "Birth of the Cool" in 1949, and his incredible 1959 classic, "Kind of Blue", possibly the most fluently graced piece of work in all of true jazz music. Experimenting and carrying no fear of failure is what kept him one step ahead. It wasn't necessarily that he was ahead of his time, but was just miles ahead of everyone else. 10 years after "Kind of Blue" Mile Davis would put together what can unarguably and ultimately called, the single most important musical masterpiece to ever be written in modern music, "B*tches' Brew". The name alone sends quivering eerie chills up the spine. This is to jazz music what Sgt. Peppers was to rock music. It perfectly captured the era and would become Miles Davis's biggest selling recording ever.

It's very important to remember that when listening to this recording, you must keep an open mind and be maximumly flexible. You must bend in new and insane directions that you never thought possible. Think of yourself as a jellyfish that is floating in a place far away. Do not expect to tap your foot and hum along with this album, because it's simply not going to happen. Do not expect a trace of anything that is commercially viable, because it's not. Far from it. This recording is impossible to describe other than it will rock you and it will swing you inside a mutli-directional funky whirlpool that will take you beyond the furthest magical spheres known to color, and music. This is the closest thing to an audio masterpiece painting. There should be a patented warning label on this CD that reads "WARNING : THIS IS NOT SUITABLE FOR THE AVERAGE EAR", because truly, it is not. This is Mile's Davis at his experimental climax. This is the unconditional beginning of all acid jazz & fusion and would unleash the floodgates to the imaginations of anyone that would ever pick up a musical instrument.

The sessions began back in the early fall of 1969. Numerous talented musicians were gathered inside a New York City studio. Guys like John McLaughlin on Guitar, Lenny White, Jack DeJohnette and Charles Atlas on drums, Jim Riley on percussion, Dave Holland on the upright bass and Harvey Brooks on electric bass, Bernie Maupin on Bass clarinet, Joe Zawinul, Larry Young and Chick Corea on keys and Wayne Shorter on soprano sax. These guys had no clue what they were in for when the group was assembled. Miles had a few rough unpolished ideas, but he was relying on the playing abilities of these session men to help complete his magical image. If there was any one person that was capable of squeezing blood out of a person's stone, that person was Miles Davis. He encouraged these guys to test unchartered territories with their souls, in their playing and in their approach to the art of sound.

The album opens with "Pharaoh's Dance", a keyboard oriented piece with an deep abstract percussive drum groove that weaves in an out between various horn chants and cries, while a bassy clarinet bottom throws in an occasional roar. Honestly, I would have made this the last piece on the disc, rather than the opener. About 17 minutes into the dance, Miles plays a horn lick that is monumental to this piece. Very nice !!

The title cut, "B*tches Brew is the 2nd song, which lasts about 27 minutes, is the last song on disc one. This is really an amazing number. The opening electric keyboard riff is startling wicked. An ambience of drums rolls and cymbal crashes create some high anticipation, mainly because you have no clue what is going to happen. Out of no where, Miles throws in a few expressive horn licks, and when all the chaos dies down, the bass breaks into a groove, and voila, the birth of acid fusion is born. This is a splendid number!!

Song 3 is "Spanish Key" which is a choppy little number and evolves into a happy acidulous tune, with the ever present animated background. Then the magic once again starts to form with some really cool melodies weaving around to shape a dreamy atmosphere. McClaughlin throws some guitar licks that would later be heard on many rock albums to come. The drum/keyboard breaks are incredible.

The next song is called "John McLaughlin". This one carries kind of a back alley dreary effect, almost like breathing underwater. The rhythm patterns are aggressively interesting. There's not anything to grab on to on this one because it's slippery, in a great kind of way.

"Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" is the next piece. This has an orgasmic type of aura to it. Wayne Shorter adds the perfect touch with his sharp melodies. The keys are trippy and spacey. The drums are rhythmical and moving. This piece alone is worth the cost of the CD. It's mesmerizing and unusually intriguing.

"Sanctuary" finishes the set. Miles starts it off. It kinds gives the impression that it's just a last number on the disc to say goodnight, but it actually is heartfelt in the sense that you can almost actually hear Miles thinking through his horn. It's kind of a sad transcendental piece and there are some moody movements within it.

The keyboards on this cd are haunting, wicked, colorful and illusive. The drumming is for a drummer's drummer. How on earth did those guys keep those patterns going like that??? The horns are clever and expressive, both with dominance and with dynamics. Overall, this is this one piece of music that will be played till the end of time.

In closing, I'd like to sleeplessly admit, that when I very first heard this record, I could not understand it. It did nothing for me. OK, I didn't like it. I vividly remember reading tons of music magazines and books and reading quotes from some of my favorite performers. Guys like Jeff Beck, Donald Byrd, Billy Cobham, Freddie Hubbard, Alphonse Mouzon, Tommy Bolin and others. They absolutely praised this record. I was dumbfounded. Until years later, when I had grown in wisdom, and when my ears reached the official stage of maturity, I re-listened to "B*tches Brew" and WOW....I heard new things that I never knew existed before. It opened my ears and my mind to a whole new musical level. What once sounded like a bunch of racket and noise, was suddenly the greatest work of art I had ever heard. Let there be no question, this is the work of a total genius at his experimental best. It's the perfect record to listen to when you just don't know what you want to listen to. It's a true treasure. I can't say it enough, Thank you Miles !!!!!!