Miles Davis
Bitches Brew: 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition
Sony Legacy
www.legacyrecordings.com
By George W. Harris

Back in 2004, Sony Legacy released the 4 disc set The Complete Bitches
Brew Sessions, which included everything Miles Davis recorded between
August 69 and February 70. Those sessions, warts and all, made up the
edited music that became the genre-changing 2 lp set. This time around,
Sony gives tribute to the anniversary of that release by not only
including the original score, but a handful of “singles,” as
well as two recently discovered takes of “Spanish Key” and John
McLaughlin.” Upping the ante, and making the completist salivate, are
the two final discs. One is a 43 minute concert performance from August
18, 1970 that includes Chick Corea/p, Keith Jarrett/o, Dave Holland/b,
Jack DeJohnette/dr, Airto Moreira/perc, and Gary Bartz/ss-as. The other
is a DVD from a Nov 4, 1969 Copenhagen performance with Wayne
Shorter/ts-ss, Chick Corea/p, Dave Holland/b, and Jack Dejohnette/dr

The BB sessions have been critiqued, analyzed, discussed, justified and
torn limb from limb from every social/racial/political/musical aspect
imaginable. The fact is, Davis wanted to get the rock and soul audience
to buy some of his music, so he plugged in, changed his wardrobe, and
got what he was looking for.

The music itself has aged intriguingly. When I first approached it back
in the late 70s, coming from a fusion background, I found these
recordings surprisingly stiff and static. Returning to them here, after
imbibing another 30 years of mainstream jazz, smooth jazz and
indie/rock/jazz, the music holds its own quite well. The rhythm section
percolates throughout, making the music a lot hipper than the funk/soul
of Sly Stone.

The concert recording from Tanglewood, MA features 6-9 minute versions
of his pieces like “Directions,” It’s About That Time” and “Spanish
Key.” Punching the sounds out like a middleweight boxer, Davis finds
his way through the thick rhythm section, while Bartz shrills over it
with long legato lines. The sound quality is better than a lot of
similar releases during this period of Davis’ career, and the concise
nature of the songs actually makes them more attractive. The DVD
besides the regular BB canon, includes the old book songs of
“Agitation” and “I Fall In Love Too Easily,” with Davis and company
trying to fit new wine into old wineskins. Equally fascinating visually
as sonically, with only the sartorial and hirsuit trends at the time
lending towards embarrassment. This is probably the go-to set if you’ve
never heard this stuff before, and the extra material puts the
historical release it into proper perspective.