Product Description

Among the most controversial recordings in the history of jazz, BITCHES BREW was Miles Davis' shot across the bow of jazz insularity, a bold statement about jazz's ability to drawupon elements of popular culture, without mitigating its spirit of spontaneous invention. Much as Ornette Coleman's THESHAPE OF JAZZ TO COME set a new standard for harmonic and melodic freedom a decade before, BITCHES BREW signaled a sea change in jazz.
Davis became a lightning rod for jazz's transformation, by mixing the best elements of '60s free jazzwith dancing funk rhythms, electric rock textures, blues phrasing and his own breakthroughs in harmony and modality. Davis employed the Electric Flag's Harvey Brooks to double up with upright bassist Dave Holland on the Fender bass, and heis the modal heartbeat of every tune, freeing up the multiple drummers and keyboardists to weave a complex polytonal/polyrhythmic web of volatile chords and colliding rhythms.
Joe Zawinul's "Pharaoh's Dance" and Davis' "Bitches Brew" treat their multiple themes in a ritualistic manner, as several strata of voices engage the lead melody in exciting exchanges. "Spanish Key" offers a thrilling sense of tension and release, as the trumpeter navigates a "Sex Machine"-styled vamp with a terse, brilliantly constructed solo, revelling in his new guitar-like phrasing. "John McLaughlin" is Davis' tribute to the innovative guitarist; "Miles Runs The Voodoo Down" is a spooky, visceral melange of funk, blues and third world sources; and Shorter's "Sanctuary" is a moody ballad that builds to a fever pitch. The savage emotional power of BITCHES BREW and Davis' subsequent recordings cries out for a fresh critical reassessment.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Pharaoh's Dance
2. Bitches Brew

Disc 2:

1. Spanish Key
2. John McLaughlin
3. Miles Runs The Voodoo Down
4. Sanctuary
5. Feio

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1211 in Music
• Released on: 1999-07-12
• Number of discs: 2

Amazon.co.uk Review
The revolution was recorded: in 1969 Bitches Brew sent a shiver through a country already quaking. It was a recording whose very sound, production methods, album-cover art, and two-LP length all signalled that jazz could never be the same. Over three days anger, confusion, and exhilaration had reigned in the studio, and the sonic themes, scraps, grooves, and sheer will and emotion that resulted were percolated and edited into an astonishingly organic work. This Miles Davis wasn't merely presenting a simple hybrid like jazz-rock, but a new way of thinking about improvisation and the studio. And with this two-CD reissue (actually, this set is a reissue of the original set plus one track, perfect for the fan who's not so overwhelmed as to need the four-CD Complete Bitches Brew box), the murk of the original recording is lifted. The instruments newly defined and brightened, the dark energy of the original comes through as if it were all fresh. Joe Zawinul and Bennie Maupin's roles in the mix have been especially clarified. With a bonus track of "Feio"--a Wayne Shorter composition recorded five months later that serves both as a warm-down for Bitches Brew and a promise of Weather Report to come--this is crucial listening. --John F. Szwed

Customer Reviews

one of the several excellent miles davis discs.
this is a very good album from miles davis and i think it is one of his best works besides kind of blue even though b^$tches is a bad word, every song on this disc is a masterpiece on this 2 disc set. i'm so sad that he is dead because i would love to see him in concert. anyways, this cd is highy recommended.

Not for the faint-hearted!
I first heard this album about 5 years ago after hearing of its legendary status from various different sources. It was too much for me to stomach back then having only heard miles' earlier cool jazz and modal jazz albums. But on hearing it again earlier this year I immediately fell in love with it and its now easily among my favourite albums of all time! For jazz purists this is often seen as a real kick in the teeth as it breaks away from all the confines of the stereotypical acoustic jazz band and offers a very different aesthetic to most of Miles' earlier work.

The album is driven by a gritty groove very influenced by rock music at the time. To understand where he was coming from here I would recommend his previous album In A Silent Way and perhaps those leading up to it.

not very good
This album is very pretentious. I got it as I like birth of the cool and someday my prince will come. They are albums that make you smile as they are beautiful and impressive. However, this is ridiculous. I should have guessed from the photo of miles davis looking like a poser - but I forgive him as he is very talented; this is experimentation, understandable to want to experiment. If like me you like to pick out jazz that is unpretentious and not all smoothy-smoochy, check out django reinhardt djangoloy and louis armstrong hot fives and sevens (and the aforementioned decent miles davis albums). That is real music, and music that is intelligent without falling into the trap of disappearing up your own ass in an introverted neurotic pile of vain nonsense.

Again, I'd like to remind that I like miles davis a lot when he's on form.