Music Review: Miles Davis - Bitches Brew Live

For Miles Davis fans, this disc is a revelation. It contains nine tracks from two concerts recorded during his landmark Bitches Brew era. The first three are previously unreleased and hail from the Newport Jazz festival in 1969. The final six come from his appearance at the Isle Of Wight festival in 1970.

In 1969, the Newport festival bowed to the inevitable and invited a number of rock acts, including Led Zeppelin and Sly & The Family Stone. Davis appeared with Chick Corea (electric piano), Jack DeJohnette (drums), and Dave Holland (bass).

They open with a ten-minute version of “Miles Runs The Voodoo Down,” giving the lie to the accepted wisdom that Bitches Brew was improvised in the studio. Obviously the pieces were works in progress. From there the quartet perform a four-minute version of “Sanctuary.”

The final Newport entry is “It’s About That Time” from In A Silent Way, which had just been released. This ten-minute take is a pretty interesting glimpse of how Davis translated a song onstage. The group close with what was still Davis’ trademark set-ender, “The Theme.”

This quartet was joined by Gary Bartz (saxophones), Keith Jarrett (organ) and Airto Moreira (percussion) at the Isle Of Wight in 1970. Davis’ group was the only jazz ensemble at the Isle, and it is estimated that the crowd they played to was around 600,000.

Bitches Brew had been issued four months prior to the appearance, and was a sensation. The seven-piece group roar with the power of The Who or Jimi Hendrix — who also appeared at the festival. Miles opens with Joe Zawinul’s “Directions,” which did not make the cut for In A Silent Way, but was played often during this time.

Ten minutes of “Bitches Brew” follows, and at this point the group had completely locked into the groove. From there, they hit “It’s About That Time,” and the difference from Newport is telling. This track just overflows with intensity, especially towards the end. Corea and Jarrett were placed on opposite sides of the stage, wailing as if their very lives depended on it.

Article Author: Greg Barbrick

Greg Barbrick is a Seattle native who was first published in 1988, in his hometown music magazine, The Rocket. Since then his work has appeared in print and online for numerous sources. He Googles himself so often that his mother told him it would make him go blind.
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