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: #8317 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

Genius at play
For me, Bitches Brew represents the pinnacle of Miles Davis' genius. It may not be the most commercially popular, and it is not the most critically acclaimed, but it is audacious, cohesive and thoroughly enjoyable.

The wonderful feeling of communication and understanding which bubbles beneath the surface of the music is glorious. The editing also plays a crucial role, especially to deliver such effect as the delay on the trumpet line on the title track.

While these ideas, and the material itself, are incisive, the only truly outlandish concept is the instrumentation. For example, the beginning of "Pharaoh's Dance" is a barrage of electric piano sounds which is a shock to the system. Miles also uses bass clarinet to add a unique sound.

All round, these two discs have that rare combination of initial interest and depth, which will make anyone want to play them again and again. Wholeheartedly recommended.

directions in music? he didn't know, he just drove!!
There are two ways to listen to Bitches Brew, probably, in my opinion, one of the greatest pieces of music ever recorded. One way is to sit and listen and try to analyse and be a critic. This way you have to be knowledgeable about what came before and after in jazz or improvised music. The other way is to walk around whilst you're listening - drink some wine, play with your children (they love the freedom in this music), snarl and grunt like Miles does, play 'air trumpet' in that 'walking on eggshells' way in which Miles played his instrument. This way you will be true to (I think) Miles' intentions in making this album. This music is constantly searching. In the best of the improvised or even the modern European musical tradition, it is all content and form goes out the window. The trick to appreciating this music is to recognise that it is of the moment. You can enjoy repeated listening but each time will not be like the time before. These are not songs, more snippets of melody backed by a gargantuan backing band who push and kick Miles to respond, ever moving, ever reaching. You CAN dance to this music (if you like) and although it was recorded in a time before the modern obsession (in popular music anyway) with style, with standardisation, with safety - you are allowed, I think, to ENJOY it.

The best track on the album for a newcomer to jazz or improvised music is 'Miles Runs the Voodoo Down' which has a compelling vamp kind of rhythmic movement that pulls you into the music. The must hear track however, once you have got to grips with the actual sound, which is quite 'other-wordly', is the title track where Miles plays to himself through the echoplex - quite haunting. Another album that shares a similar style to this with its use of multiple electric pianos is Joe Zawinul's (another player on BB) excellent 'Zawinul' (1971).
The sound on this issue of BB is also much cleaned up from the original which was a bit of a mush. I would advise anyone who is serious about actually appreciating musical sound to buy this album. The tracks really are like little pieces of the great Miles's thoughts cut up and jumbled around and then stuck back together. It is funny though, and it perhaps says something about our rock tradition in music, that if the lead instrument here was an electric guitar (say like Hendrix or Radiohead), nobody would be saying anything about not being able to understand it or it being difficult or 'a noise'. Because it is a trumpet and a trumpet is not meant to sound like this, everyone is not sure. I think this was Miles's intention behind recording this album: ever the musical revolutionary he wanted to say forget about what you know and what has come before, this is a new direction.
This music will linger with you long after you have first heard it and it does repay you - honest. Give yourself a chance and buy this wonderful album.

Another box of jewels
There are those who find the journey from "Kind of Blue" to "Bitches Brew" too arduous. That in itself is part of the story of "Bitches Brew". Miles himself wouldn't have had it any other way. [He refused to play material from previous eras. He said it "embarrassed" him.] He made the journey and so must we. The rewards stretch out in front of the listener like a stairway to heaven. The roll-call of the musicians on this album is second to none, not even the great "KoB" quintet. With this music, Miles buried any possiblity that comforting, comfortable covers would be played in hotel lounges or heard over hubbub in airport concourses. This is jazz's Shostakovich, poking Stalin in the eye; Stravinsky erupting in Paris to furious uproar with "The Rite of Spring". Like the trek up Kilimanjairo, nobody said it was going to be easy. But everything Miles stood for is here: the haunting tonality of his own playing, the freedom given to his musicians to reach beyond themselves, the courage it took to take yet another step beyond what anyone expected or even understood. And for us, the fabulous gift that he succeeded.