Miles Davis Radio Project

Miles Davis - Live Electric and Brutal in Berlin (1973)

Line-up:
Miles Davis - trumpet, organ
Dave Liebman - soprano sax, tenor sax, flute
Pete Cosey - guitar, percussion
Reggie Lucas - guitar
Michael Henderson - electric bass
Al Foster - drums
James Mtume Forman - congas, percussion

Miles Davis - 'Round About Midnight (1957)

Given that Round About Midnight was Miles Davis' debut Columbia recording, it was both a beginning and an ending. Certainly the beginning of his recording career with the label that issued most if not all of his important recordings; and the recording debut of an exciting new band that had within its ranks Philly Joe Jones, Paul Chambers, pianist Red Garland, and an all but unknown tenor player named John Coltrane. The title track was chosen because of its unique rendition with a muted trumpet, debuted at the Newport Jazz Festival the summer before to a thunderous reception. The date was also an ending of sorts because by the time of the album's release, Davis had already broken up the band, which re-formed with Cannonball Adderley a year later as a sextet, but it was a tense year. Musically, this sound is as unusual and as beautiful as it was when issued in 1956. Davis had already led the charge through two changes in jazz -- both cool jazz and hard bop -- and was beginning to move in another direction here that wouldn't be defined for another two years. Besides the obvious lyrical and harmonic beauty of "Round About Midnight" that is arguably its definitive version even over Monk's own, there are the edges of Charlie Parker's "Au Leu-Cha" with its Bluesology leaping from every chord change in Red Garland's left hand. Coltrane's solo here too is notable for its stark contrast to Davis' own: he chooses an angular tack where he finds the heart of the mode and plays a melody in harmonic counterpoint to the changes but never sounds outside. Cole Porter's "All of You" has Davis quoting from Louis Armstrong's "Basin Street Blues" in his solo that takes out the tune, and Coltrane has never respected a melody so much. But it's in "Bye-Bye Blackbird" that we get to hear the band gel as a unit, beginning with Davis playing through the melody, muted and sweet, slightly flatted out until he reaches the harmony on the refrain and begins his solo on a high note. Garland is doing more than comping in the background; he's slipping chord shapes into those interval cracks and shifting them as the rhythm section keeps "soft time." When Coltrane moves in for his break, rather than Davis' spare method, he smatters notes quickly all though the melodic body of the tune and Garland has to compensate harmonically, moving the mode and tempo up a notch until his own solo can bring it back down again. Which he does with a gorgeous all-blues read of the tune utilizing first one hand and then both hands to create fat harmonic chords to bring Davis back in to close it out. It's breathtaking how seamless it all is. There's little else to say except that Round About Midnight is among the most essential of Davis' Columbia recordings.

By Thom Jurek in All Music Guide

Styles:
Hard-Bop
Blues
Cool

Tracks:
01 - 'Round Midnight (06:00)
02 - Ah-Leu-Cha (05:55)
03 - All of You (07:05)
04 - Bye Bye Blackbird (07:59)
05 - Tadd's Delight (04:33)
06 - Dear Old Stockholm (07:55)
07 - Two Bass Hit (03:47)
08 - Little Melonae (07:24)
09 - Budo (04:17)
10- Sweet Sue, Just You (03:39)

Line-up:
Miles Davis - trumpet
John Coltrane - tenor saxophone
Red Garland - piano
Paul Chambers - bass
Philly Joe Jones - drums

Miles Davis - Pangaea (1975)

This is the second of two performances from February 1975 at the Osaka Festival Hall in Japan. This is the evening show; the Columbia release Agharta was the afternoon show. Pangaea is comprised either as a double LP or double CD of two tracks, "Zimbabwe" and "Gondwana." Each is divided into two parts. The band here is comprised of Sonny Fortune on saxophones, Pete Cosey (who also played synth) and Reggie Lucas on guitars, Michael Henderson on bass, Al Foster on drums, James Mtume on percussion, and Davis on trumpet and organ. The band, no doubt inspired by their amazing performance earlier in the day, comes out swinging, and I mean like Muhammad Ali, not Benny Goodman. This is a take-no-prisoners set. Davis seems to be pushing an agenda of "What the hell is melody and harmony? And bring on the funk -- and while you're at it, Pete, play the hell outta that guitar. More drums!" If there is anything that's consistent in this free-for-all, as everybody interacts with everyone else in an almighty dirty groove & roll while improv is at an all-time high, it's the rhythmic, or should we emphasize "polyrhythmic," invention. Mtume and Foster are monstrous in moving this murky jam session along ("Zimbabwe" is one set, and "Gondwana" is the second of the evening) some surreal lines. When Cosey's not ripping the pickups out of his guitar, he's adding his hands to various percussion instruments in the pursuit of the all-powerful Miles Davis' inflected voodoo funk. And while it's true that this set is as relentless as the Agharta issue, it's not quite as successful, though it's plenty satisfying. The reason is simple: the dynamic and dramatic tensions of the afternoon session could never have been replicated, they were based on all conditions being right. Here, while the moods and textures are carried and the flow is quite free, the dramatic tension is not as present; the mood is not quite so dark. And while the playing of certain individuals here may be better than it is on Agharta, the band's playing isn't quite at that level. That said, this is still an essential Miles Davis live record and will melt your mind just as easily as Agharta. People would complain on this tour that Davis played with his back to the audience a lot -- Lester Bangs went so far as to say he hated his guts for it. But if you were this focused on creating a noise so hideously beautiful from thin air, you might not have time to socialize either.

by Thom Jurek in All Music Guide

Styles:
Jazz-Rock
Jazz-Funk
Fusion

Tracks:
01 - Zimbabwe (41:18)
02 - Gondwana (46:50)

Line-up:
Miles Davis – electric trumpet with Wah Wah, organ
Sonny Fortune – soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, flute
Pete Cosey – electric guitar, Synthesizer, percussion
Reggie Lucas – electric guitar
Michael Henderson – electric bass
Al Foster – drums
James "Mtume" Forman – conga, percussion, water drum, rhythm box

Miles Davis - Nefertiti (1967)

Nefertiti, the fourth album by Miles Davis' second classic quintet, continues the forward motion of Sorcerer, as the group settles into a low-key, exploratory groove, offering music with recognizable themes -- but themes that were deliberately dissonant, slightly unsettling even as they burrowed their way into the consciousness. In a sense, this is mood music, since, like on much of Sorcerer, the individual parts mesh in unpredictable ways, creating evocative, floating soundscapes. This music anticipates the free-fall, impressionistic work of In a Silent Way, yet it remains rooted in hard bop, particularly when the tempo is a bit sprightly, as on "Hand Jive." Yet even when the instrumentalists and soloists are placed in the foreground -- such as Miles' extended opening solo on "Madness" or Hancock's long solo toward the end of the piece -- this never feels like showcases for virtuosity, the way some showboating hard bop can, though each player shines. What's impressive, like on all of this quintet's sessions, is the interplay, how the musicians follow an unpredictable path as a unit, turning in music that is always searching, always provocative, and never boring. Perhaps Nefertiti's charms are a little more subtle than those of its predecessors, but that makes it intriguing. Besides, this album so clearly points the way to fusion, while remaining acoustic, that it may force listeners on either side of the fence into another direction.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine in All Music Guide

Styles:
Hard-Bop
Post-Bop
Modern Creative
Modal

Tracks:
01 - Nefertiti (7:52)
02 - Fall (6:39)
03 - Hand Jive (8:54)
04 - Madness (7:31)
05 - Riot (3:05)
06 - Pinocchio (5:08)
07 - Hand Jive [First Alternate Take] (6:45)
08 - Hand Jive [Second Alternate Take] (8:17)
09 - Madness (6:40)
10 - Pinocchio (5:05)

Line-up:
Miles Davis - trumpet
Wayne Shorter - tenor saxophone
Herbie Hancock - piano
Ron Carter - double bass
Tony Williams - drums

Miles Davis Quintet - Live in Milan (1964)

Tracks:
01 - Autumn Leaves
02 - My Funny Valentine
03 - All Blue
04 - All of You
05 - Joshua - into - The Theme

Line-up:
Miles Davis - trumpet
Wayne Shorter - tenor sax
Herbie Hancock - piano
Ron Carter - bass
Tony Williams - drums

Miles Davis Quintet - Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet (1956)

Although they had made a few slightly earlier cuts that would later be issued on Columbia, the first full-length album by the Miles Davis Quintet is quite intriguing in that it gives one a look at tenor saxophonist John Coltrane when he still had a hesitant style. This audiophile CD reissue has the same music that is currently available on an Original Jazz Classics set: five jazz standards plus "The Theme." Unlike Coltrane, who would develop rapidly within the next year, Miles was already very much in his prime, sounding quite lyrical on "Just Squeeze Me" and "There Is No Greater Love," and the classic rhythm section (pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones) was quickly starting to gel.

by Scott Yanow in All Music Guide

Styles:
Bop
Hard-Bop

Tracks:
01 - Just Squeeze Me (7:25)
02 - There Is No Greater Love (5:16)
03 - How Am I to Know? (4:37)
04 - S'posin' (5:12)
05 - Miles' Theme (5:47)
06 - Stablemates (5:19)

Line-up:
Miles Davis - Trumpet
John Coltrane - Tenor saxophone
Red Garland - Piano
Paul Chambers - Bass
Philly Joe Jones - drums

Miles Davis Quintet - Miles in Tokyo (1964)

Miles Davis's most successful groups--his first great quintet with John Coltrane, for example, and his mid-1960s outfit with saxophonist Wayne Shorter--are well known, but the ensembles in-between are also notable. On this 1964 concert, recorded in Tokyo, Japan, Miles was already working with the rhythm section he would maintain until 1970--drummer Tony Williams, bassist Ron Carter, and pianist Herbie Hancock. The saxophonist, remarkably enough, is subsequent avant-garde legend Sam Rivers.
Rivers is a unique and under-appreciated player not bound by stylistic constraints; he plays with great verve, humor, and invention. Though Rivers seems a bit out of place on this set of mostly standards (which includes "My Funny Valentine" and "All of You"), it is interesting to hear how his sound changes the group, pushing it toward more flexible rhythmic and harmonic structures. "So What," for example, grows to skittering near-cacophony, with a series of complex solos. Hancock's blinding right hand and the propulsive rhythms of Carter and Williams also drive Davis to some of the edgiest playing of his career at that point. Miles in Tokyo is a fascinating document of Davis in transition, but is also worth picking up for the chance to hear Rivers in such unique company.
After George Coleman left the Miles Davis Quintet, tenor saxophonist Sam Rivers took his place for a short period including a tour of Japan. Davis did not care for Rivers' avant-garde style (they failed to develop any chemistry) and soon replaced him, but this live LP (originally only issued in Japan) survived to document this brief association. The music (five lengthy versions of standards) is actually of high quality, with both Davis and Rivers in fine form and the young rhythm section (pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams) pushing the trumpeter/leader to open up his style.

Styles:
Post-bop
Modal Music

Tracks:
01 - Introduction by Teruo Isono (01:10)
02 - If I Were a Bell (10:17)
03 - My Funny Valentine (12:50)
04 - So What (08:05)
05 - Walkin' (09:15)
06 - All of You (11:18)
07 - Go-Go (01:21)

Line-Up:
Miles Davis - trumpet, tenor saxophone
Sam Rivers - tenor saxophone
Ron Carter - bass instrument
Tony Williams - drums
Herbie Hancock - piano

Miles Davis Quintet - The Cool Jazz Sound (1959)

Tracks:
So What
The Duke
Blues for Pablo
New Rhumba

Line-up:
Miles Davis Quintet:
Miles Davis - trumpet, flugelhorn
John Coltrane - tenor saxophone
Wynton Kelly - piano
Paul Chambers - bass
Jimmy Cobb - drums

The Gil Evans Orchestra:
Ernie Royal, Clyde Reasinger, Louis Mucci, Johnny Coles, Emmett Berry - trumpet
Frank Rehak, Jimmy Cleveland, Bill Elton, Rod Levitt - trombone
Julius Watkins, Bob Northern - french horn
Bill Barber - tuba
Danny Bank - bass clarinet
Romeo Penque Eddie Caine - woodwinds

Penetration

Sonny Rollins - with the Modern Jazz Quartet (1953)

Included here are some of Sonny Rollins' earliest sessions as a bandleader. These are among the fresh and vibrant baker's dozen of selections on Sonny Rollins With the Modern Jazz Quartet (1953). The title is a bit misleading though, since the MJQ — with John Lewis (piano), Milt Jackson (vibes), Percy Heath (bass), and Kenny Clarke (drums) — is only accounted for during the first four sides. There is a playful and energetic tone that ricochets from Jackson's fluid vibes, landing firmly in Rollins' musical court. One prime example of this interaction is heard throughout the solos on the opening track, "Stopper." Similarly, "Almost Like Falling in Love" bops, weaves, and swings throughout, with some expressive contributions via Lewis, effectively linking Rollins' and Jackson's solos. "No Moe," which stands as one of the best originals on the disc, also bears their undeniable connection. Another not-to-be-missed reading is the sultry "In a Sentimental Mood." Here, Rollins spirals mature and ethereal lines against Jackson's resonant intonation and shimmer. If just for these tunes, Sonny Rollins With the Modern Jazz Quartet is a vital component in any jazz enthusiasts' collection. The rest of the disc is performed by Rollins and a quartet that also includes the talents of Kenny Drew (piano), the MJQ's Percy Heath (bass), and the main Jazz Messenger, Art Blakey (drums). On the original tune "Scoops," Blakey's hardball antics provide well-placed sonic interjections, punctuating Rollins' highly infectious melodic sense. While on the subject of catchy tunes, all ears should be directed to the biblically derived title "Shadrack," which had been a signature piece for Louis Armstrong. This early incarnation of the Sonny Rollins Quartet has rarely sounded as cohesive, as they collectively percolate with their definitive execution. Of particular note is the inclusion of Miles Davis' "I Know." This extension of Charlie Parker's "Confirmation" features Davis on piano accompanying Rollins with solid chord progressions, allowing the burgeoning player to lead his first-ever quartet with Heath and Roy Haynes (drums).

by Lindsay Planer at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Bop

Tracks:
01 The Stopper
02 Almost Like Being in Love
03 No Moe
04 In a Sentimental Mood
05 Scoops
06 With a Song in My Heart
07 Newk's Fadeaway
08 Time on My Hands
09 This Love of Mine
10 Shadrack
11 On a Slow Boat to China
12 Mambo Bounce
13 I Know

Line-up:
Sonny Rollins – tenor saxophone
John Lewis - piano (tracks 1-4)
Milt Jackson - vibes (tracks 1-4)
Percy Heath - bass
Kenny Clarke - drums (tracks 1-4)
Art Blakey - drums (tracks 5-12)
Miles Davis - piano (track 13)
Roy Haynes - drums (track 13)

Miles Davis - In a Silent Way (1969)

Listening to Miles Davis' originally released version of In a Silent Way in light of the complete sessions released by Sony in 2001 (Columbia Legacy 65362) reveals just how strategic and dramatic a studio construction it was. If one listens to Joe Zawinul's original version of "In a Silent Way," it comes across as almost a folk song with a very pronounced melody. The version Miles Davis and Teo Macero assembled from the recording session in July of 1968 is anything but. There is no melody, not even a melodic frame. There are only vamps and solos, grooves layered on top of other grooves spiraling toward space but ending in silence. But even these don't begin until almost ten minutes into the piece. It's Miles and McLaughlin, sparely breathing and wending their way through a series of seemingly disconnected phrases until the groove monster kicks in. The solos are extended, digging deep into the heart of the ethereal groove, which was dark, smoky, and ashen. McLaughlin and Hancock are particularly brilliant, but Corea's solo on the Fender Rhodes is one of his most articulate and spiraling on the instrument ever. The A-side of the album, "Shhh/Peaceful," is even more so. With Tony Williams shimmering away on the cymbals in double time, Miles comes out slippery and slowly, playing over the top of the vamp, playing ostinato and moving off into more mysterious territory a moment at a time. With Zawinul's organ in the background offering the occasional swell of darkness and dimension, Miles could continue indefinitely. But McLaughlin is hovering, easing in, moving up against the organ and the trills by Hancock and Corea; Wayne Shorter hesitantly winds in and out of the mix on his soprano, filling space until it's his turn to solo. But John McLaughlin, playing solos and fills throughout (the piece is like one long dreamy solo for the guitarist), is what gives it its open quality, like a piece of music with no borders as he turns in and through the commingling keyboards as Holland paces everything along. When the first round of solos ends, Zawinul and McLaughlin and Williams usher it back in with painterly decoration and illumination from Corea and Hancock. Miles picks up on another riff created by Corea and slips in to bring back the ostinato "theme" of the work. He plays glissando right near the very end, which is the only place where the band swells and the tune moves above a whisper before Zawinul's organ fades it into silence. This disc holds up, and perhaps is even stronger because of the issue of the complete sessions. It is, along with Jack Johnson and Bitches Brew, a signature Miles Davis session from the electric era.

by Thom Jurek at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Fusion
Jazz-Rock
Avant-Garde Jazz

Tracks:
01 Shhh/Peaceful
02 In A Silent Way

Line-up:
Miles Davis – trumpet
Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone
John McLaughlin – electric guitar
Chick Corea – electric piano
Herbie Hancock – electric piano
Joe Zawinul – organ
Dave Holland – double bass
Tony Williams – drums

Miles Davis at Isle of Wight - Call It Anything (1970)

Miles Davis - Milestones (1958)

What is immediately noticeable upon listening to this delicately and superbly remastered version of Miles Davis classic first -- and only -- album with his original sextet is how deep the blues presence is on it. Though it is true that the album's title cut is rightfully credited with introducing modalism into jazz, and defining Davis' music for years to come, it is the sole selection of its kind on the record. The rest is all blues in any flavor you wish you call your own. For starters, there's the steaming bebop blues of "Dr. Jackie" -- recorded in 1955 for a Prestige session with Jackie McLean. Davis is still in his role as a trumpet master, showing a muscularity of tone that reveals something more akin to Roy Eldridge or Louis Armstrong than Dizzy or Fats Navarro. The tempo is furious as all the members of the sextet solo except for Jones. The saxophonists trade choruses and come off sounding like mirrored images of one another in the slower, post-bop blues that is "Sid's Ahead." With a slippery melody line that quotes two harmonic lines from early New Orleans-styled blues, Davis drives the band into the rhythm section's garage. It's Cannonball first with his stuttered, angular lines, hiccuping halfway through the interval before continuing on with a squeak here and the slightest squawk there. Next up is Davis, blowing fluid and straightened lines, ribbons through the rhythm section's center as Red Garland lays out and leaves it to Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones to provide the earnest, time-keeping 4/4 that Davis sidles to in the tune. When Coltrane solos, all best are off as he plays as pure a blues as he was capable at the time. Nonetheless, there are the long lines of slurred notes, smattered against Garland's harmonies and he slips into quoting "Skip to my Lou" before knotting it back down to the basics and even then not for long. Coltrane was already exploring the edges of mode and harmony; he used an intervallic invention in the choruses to juxtapose his solo against the rhythm section and it worked -- but it must have made Davis raise an eyebrow. Chambers' solo is as tasteful and as breezy and free as only he could be. His contrapuntal soloing rides the rhythm out, Garland striding along quietly until the tune returns.

"Sid's Ahead" is followed by the track "Two Bass Hit," written by Dizzy and John Lewis. It's an off-kilter blues with a wide middle section, no doubt for Lewis' piano to fill. It's a wonderful ensemble showcase but Davis blows his ass off in his solo, riding through the two saxophonists and challenging them at the same time. But then comes "Milestones" with its modal round and interval, where harmony is constructed from the center up. It is a memorable tune for not only its structure and how it would inform not only Davis' own music, but jazz in general for the next seven years. It would also change John Coltrane's life. The exploratory style of soloing was already revealing itself in Trane's playing, but he loosens it up even more here. More importantly, this is the first place we get to see it in Davis, where there is no goal at the end of the rainbow, there is merely the solo itself in the heart of the mode. The alternate take of this tune, which is featured at the end of the album, tagged on with two others of "Two Bass Hit" and "Straight, No Chaser," has an even longer and weirder solo by Davis where he plays notes he probably never played again. The album's closer is Monk's "Straight, No Chaser," which became a signature tune for the sextet even when Garland and Jones left to be replaced by Bill Evans and Jimmy Cobb and later Evans by Wynton Kelly. Like "My Funny Valentine," it was a Davis staple that accented how intuitive the band was with unusual harmonic structures like Monk's. The Adderley solo is remarkable for its fluid, bebop-style runs over Garland's extended chords and flatted sevenths. Cannonball quotes the melody in a myriad of ways and goes off the deep end each time he does, taking the new rendition to its limit, always returning it to the blues root. Davis plays it cool, slithering around the rhythm section staying firmly in blues phraseology, even quoting a reverse harmonic melodic read of "When the Saints Go Marching In," bringing it in and out three times while pushing the blues line to its edge. Coltrane's solo is all over the place, slurring notes as he plays weird scales all over the blues and triple times the rhythm section. But he knows the tune better than anyone here -- he spent six months with Monk just previous to this playing it every night. Coltrane knows how much he can stretch the intervals without breaking apart the body. He inserts his own modal interpretation on the blues halfway through his solo before slipping into the straight, swinging groove of his Blue Train album, finished only two months before. Garland, oddly enough, is the one to travel the furthest from Monk here, coming off with a Bud Powell-esque blues muscle that shifts the entire tune into a straight bebop blues before sifting in a few Errol Garland quotes as the bass solos and then the front line comes in to take it out. The alternate take is even stranger as Garland falters in his time not once but twice and has to find his way back in.

Legacy has done it proud on this series of reissues, as the sound is as fine as technology can currently make it, the notes are terrific, and the alternate takes offer additional delights to fans of the original recordings. They should also be commended for leaving them at the bottom of the album instead of placing them in with the original album's sequence, a practice that though widely used is distracting nonetheless. This is a fine issue of a classic, and treated like the piece of art it is.

by Thom Jurek at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Post-Bop
Hard Bop
Modal Music
Bop

Tracks:
01 Dr. Jackle
02 Sid's Ahead
03 Two Bass Hit
04 Milestones
05 Billy Boy
06 Straight, No Chaser
07 Two Bass Hit (alternate take)
08 Milestones (alternate take)
09 Straight, No Chaser (alternate take)

Line-up:
Miles Davis - trumpet
John Coltrane - tenor saxophone
Cannonball Adderley - alto saxophone
Paul Chambers - bass
Red Garland - piano
Philly Joe Jones - drums

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (1969)

Thought by many to be the most revolutionary album in jazz history, having virtually created the genre known as jazz-rock fusion (for better or worse) and being the jazz album to most influence rock and funk musicians, Bitches Brew is, by its very nature, mercurial. The original double LP included only six cuts and featured up to 12 musicians at any given time, most of whom would go on to be high-level players in their own right: Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Airto, John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Don Alias, Benny Maupin, Larry Young, Lenny White, and others. Originally thought to be a series of long jams locked into grooves around one or two keyboard, bass, or guitar figures, Bitches Brew is anything but. Producer Teo Macero had as much to do with the end product on Bitches Brew as Davis. Macero and Davis assembled, from splice to splice, section to section, much of the music recorded over three days in August 1969. First, there's the slow, modal, opening grooves of "Pharaoh's Dance," with its slippery trumpet lines to McLaughlin's snaky guitar figures skirting the edge of the rhythm section and Don Alias' conga slipping through the middle. The keyboards of Corea and Zawinul create a haunting, riffing groove echoed and accented by the two basses of Harvey Brooks and Dave Holland. The title cut was originally composed as a five-part suite, though only three were used. Here the keyboards punch through the mix, big chords and distorted harmonics ring up a racket for Davis to solo over rhythmically outside the mode. McLaughlin is comping on fat chords, creating the groove, and the bass and drums carry the rest for a small taste of deep-voodoo funk. Side three opens with McLaughlin and Davis trading funky fours and eights over the lock-step groove of hypnotic proportion that is "Spanish Key." Zawinul's trademark melodic sensibility provides a kind of chorus for Corea to flat around, and the congas and drummers working in complement against the basslines. This nearly segues into the four-and-a-half minute "John McLaughlin," with its signature organ mode and arpeggiated blues guitar runs. The end of Bitches Brew, signified by the stellar "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down," echoes the influence of Jimi Hendrix; with its chuck-and-slip chords and lead figures and Davis playing a ghostly melody through the shimmering funkiness of the rhythm section, it literally dances and becomes increasingly more chaotic until about nine minutes in, where it falls apart. Yet one doesn't know it until near the end, when it simmers down into smoke-and-ice fog once more. The disc closes with "Sanctuary," a previously recorded Davis tune that is completely redone here as an electric moody ballad reworked for this band, but keeping enough of its modal integrity to be outside the rest of Bitches Brew's retinue. The CD reissue adds "Feio," a track recorded early in 1970 with the same band. Unreleased — except on the box set of the complete sessions — "Feio" has more in common with the exploratory music of the previous August than with later, more structured Davis music in the jazz-rock vein. A three-note bass vamp centers the entire thing as three different modes entwine one another, seeking a groove to bolt onto. It never finds it, but becomes its own nocturnal beast, offering ethereal dark tones and textures to slide the album out the door on. Thus Bitches Brew retains its freshness and mystery long after its original issue.

by Thom Jurek at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Avant-Garde
Fusion
Jazz-Rock

Tracks:
CD 1
01 Pharoah's Dance
02 Bitches Brew
CD 2
01 Spanish Key
02 John McLaughlin
03 Miles Runs the Voodoo Down
04 Sanctuary

Line-up:
Miles Davis - trumpet
Wayne Shorter - soprano saxophone
Bennie Maupin - bass clarinet
Joe Zawinul - electric piano
Chick Corea - electric piano
Larry Young - electric piano
John McLaughlin - electric guitar
Dave Holland - bass
Harvey Brooks - electric bass
Lenny White - drums
Jack DeJohnette - drums
Billy Cobham - drums
Don Alias - congas / drums
Jim Riley - shaker / congas
Airto Moreira - percussion / cuica

Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else (1958)

It isn't too difficult to understand why MFSL considered this album to be a worthy candidate for an Ultradisc reissue -- aside from Cannonball Adderley, you have a lineup that includes Miles Davis, Hank Jones, Sam Jones, and Art Blakey. This is a group that could take on a Barry Manilow number and turn it into a jazz masterpiece. MFSL have done the purchaser a favor, too, by including an additional track that was left off the original album. This sixth track, ""Alison's Uncle,"" closes out Somethin' Else on a high note, changing the flow of energy in an interesting way (purists can still finish up on a quieter note, as with the original, by programming ""Dancing in the Dark"" as the final track). In many ways it's a surprise that this track was left off originally -- it's an excellent piece, with Adderley and Davis trading licks and solos while Jones and Blakey keep pace. Blakey also takes some terrific solos. The remastering job is the usual superb MFSL effort, producing clear sound with almost no background noise. Due to the original recording (made in 1958), Davis' trumpet sometimes seems a little shrill and metallic, but it's not an overwhelming problem -- certainly not when you consider Davis' style. Altogether, an excellent addition to any jazz collection.

by Steven McDonald at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Hard Bop

Tracks:
01 Autumn Leaves
02 Love for Sale
03 Somethin' Else
04 One for Daddy-O
05 Dancing in the Dark
06 Alison's Uncle

Line-up:
Cannonball Adderley - alto saxophone
Miles Davis - trumpet
Art Blakey - drums
Hank Jones - piano
Sam Jones - bass

Miles Davis - Ascenseur Pour l'Échafaud (1958)

Jazz and film noir are perfect bedfellows, as evidenced by the soundtrack of Louis Malle's Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud (Lift to the Scaffold). This dark and seductive tale is wonderfully accentuated by the late-'50s cool or bop music of Miles Davis, played with French jazzmen -- bassist Pierre Michelot, pianist René Urtreger, and tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen -- and American expatriate drummer Kenny Clarke. These complete recordings, including multiple alternate takes, evoke the sensual nature of a mysterious chanteuse and the contrasting scurrying rat race lifestyle of the times, when the popularity of the automobile, cigarettes, and the late-night bar scene were central figures. Davis had seen a screening of the movie prior to his making of this music, and knew exactly how to portray the smoky hazed or frantic scenes though sonic imagery, dictated by the trumpeter mainly in D-minor and C-seventh chords. Michelot is as important a figure as the trumpeter because he sets the tone, whether on four takes of the ballad/blues "Nuit sur les Champs-Élysées," the last version a bit more swinging than the others; his probing one-note sound with the whispering horn of Davis during "Assassinat" and "Final"; and especially on his solo tracks, the slow walking "Ascenseur" (aka "Evasion de Julien") and the stalking "Visite du Vigile." While the mood of the soundtrack is generally dour and somber, the group collectively picks up the pace exponentially on the hard-swinging and freewheeling "Motel," the hotter "Sequence Voiture," and "Diner au Motel." These selections with the entire quintet featuring Wilen effectively realize chase scenes or mind gears crazily turning. At times the distinctive Davis trumpet style is echoed into dire straits or death wish motifs, as on "Generique" or "L'Assassinat de Carala," respectively, but the band can get kinda blue on takes of "Le Petit Bal," with Davis and Wilen more unified up front. Clarke is his usual marvelous self, and listeners should pay close attention to the able Urtreger, by no means a virtuoso but a capable and flexible accompanist. This recording can stand proudly alongside Duke Ellington's music from Anatomy of a Murder and the soundtrack of Play Misty for Me as great achievements of artistic excellence in fusing dramatic scenes with equally compelling modern jazz music.

by Michael G. Nastos at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Hard Bop

Tracks:
01 Nuit sur les Champs-Élysées (Take 1)
02 Nuit sur les Champs-Élysées (Take 2)
03 Nuit sur les Champs-Élysées (Take 3)
04 Nuit sur les Champs-Élysées (Take 4)
05 Assassinat (Take 1)
06 Assassinat (Take 2)
07 Assassinat (Take 3)
08 Motel
09 Final (Take 1)
10 Final (Take 2)
11 Final (Take 3)
12 Ascenseur
13 Le Petit Bal (Take 1)
14 Le Petit Bal (Take 2)
15 Séquence Voiture (Take 1)
16 Séquence Voiture (Take 2)
17 Générique
18 L'Assassinat de Carala
19 Sur l'Autoroute
20 Julien Dans l'Ascenseur
21 Florence sur les Champs-Élysées
22 Diner au Motel
23 Évasion de Julien
24 Visite du Vigile
25 Au Bar du Petit Bac
26 Chez le Photographe du Motel

Line-up:
Miles Davis - trumpet
Kenny Clarke - drums
Pierre Michelot - bass
René Urtreger - piano
Barney Wilen - tenor saxophone

Miles Davis - A Tribute to Jack Johnson (1970)

None of Miles Davis' recordings has been more shrouded in mystery than Jack Johnson, yet none has better fulfilled Miles Davis' promise that he could form the "greatest rock band you ever heard." Containing only two tracks, the album was assembled out of no less than four recording sessions between February 18, 1970, and June 4, 1970, and was patched together by producer Teo Macero. Most of the outtake material ended up on Directions, Big Fun, and elsewhere. The first misconception is the lineup: the credits on the recording are incomplete. For the opener, "Right Off," the band is Miles, John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, Herbie Hancock, Michael Henderson, and Steve Grossman (no piano player!), which reflects the liner notes. This was from the musicians' point of view, in a single take, recorded as McLaughlin began riffing in the studio while waiting for Miles; it was picked up on by Henderson and Cobham, Hancock was ushered in to jump on a Hammond organ (he was passing through the building), and Miles rushed in at 2:19 and proceeded to play one of the longest, funkiest, knottiest, and most complex solos of his career. Seldom has he cut loose like that and played in the high register with such a full sound. In the meantime, the interplay between Cobham, McLaughlin, and Henderson is out of the box, McLaughlin playing long, angular chords centering around E. This was funky, dirty rock & roll jazz. There is this groove that gets nastier and nastier as the track carries on, and never quits, though there are insertions by Macero of two Miles takes on Sly Stone tunes and an ambient textured section before the band comes back with the groove, fires it up again, and carries it out. On "Yesternow," the case is far more complex. There are two lineups, the one mentioned above, and one that begins at about 12:55. The second lineup was Miles, McLaughlin, Jack DeJohnette, Chick Corea, Bennie Maupin, Dave Holland, and Sonny Sharrock. The first 12 minutes of the tune revolve around a single bass riff lifted from James Brown's "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud." The material that eases the first half of the tune into the second is taken from "Shhh/Peaceful," from In a Silent Way, overdubbed with the same trumpet solo that is in the ambient section of "Right Off." It gets more complex as the original lineup is dubbed back in with a section from Miles' tune "Willie Nelson," another part of the ambient section of "Right Off," and an orchestral bit of "The Man Nobody Saw" at 23:52, before the voice of Jack Johnson (by actor Brock Peters) takes the piece out. The highly textured, nearly pastoral ambience at the end of the album is a fitting coda to the chilling, overall high-energy rockist stance of the album. Jack Johnson is the purest electric jazz record ever made because of the feeling of spontaneity and freedom it evokes in the listener, for the stellar and inspiring solos by McLaughlin and Davis that blur all edges between the two musics, and for the tireless perfection of the studio assemblage by Miles and producer Macero. [The album was completely remastered and reissued in January of 2005, following the 2003 release of the Complete Jack Johnson Sessions box set by Legacy.]

by Thom Jurek at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Jazz-Funk
Fusion
Jazz-Rock

Tracks:
01 Right Off
02 Yesternow

Line-up:
Miles Davis - trumpet
Steve Grossman - soprano saxophone
John McLaughlin - electric guitar
Herbie Hancock - organ
Michael Henderson - electric bass
Billy Cobham - drums

Miles Davis - Miles in Berlim (1964)

Recorded live in Germany at the Berlin Philharmonic, Miles in Berlin represents the first recording of trumpeter Miles Davis with tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter. For various reasons, saxophonists George Coleman and Sam Rivers had both come and gone as members of Davis' band. With the addition of Shorter in 1964, Davis had found the lineup of musicians that he would stick with until 1968 and produce some of the most influential albums of his career -- collected on The Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-68: The Complete Columbia Studio. Eventually known as the "second great quintet," most of the players here, including pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams, had been with Davis for just under a year. In that time, they had taken his traditional repertoire of standards and originals and reworked them with a more adventurous, edgy approach that flirted with the avant-garde. While there isn't a huge difference in the sound of this band or choice of songs from the group that recorded Seven Steps to Heaven or Miles Davis in Europe, there is a palpable sense of creative abandon in Davis' performance as well as synergy to the group sound that seems to foreshadow the innovative music to come.

by Matt Collar at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Avant-Garde
Hard Bop
Modal Music

Tracks:
01 Milestones
02 Autumn Leaves
03 So What
04 Walkin'
05 Theme

Line-up:
Ron Carter - bass
Miles Davis - trumpet
Herbie Hancock - piano
Wayne Shorter - tenor saxophone
Tony Williams - drums

Miles Davis - Filles de Kilimanjaro (1968)

Since it's billed as "Directions in Music by Miles Davis," it should come as little surprise that Filles de Kilimanjaro is the beginning of a new phase for Miles, the place that he begins to dive headfirst into jazz-rock fusion. It also happens to be the swan song for his second classic quintet, arguably the finest collective of musicians he ever worked with, and what makes this album so fascinating is that it's possible to hear the breaking point — though his quintet all followed him into fusion (three of his supporting players were on In a Silent Way), it's possible to hear them all break with the conventional notions of what constituted even adventurous jazz, turning into something new. According to Miles, the change in "direction" was as much inspired by a desire to return to something earthy and bluesy as it was to find new musical territory, and Filles de Kilimanjaro bears him out. Though the album sports inexplicable, rather ridiculous French song titles, this is music that is unpretentiously adventurous, grounded in driving, mildly funky rhythms and bluesy growls from Miles, graced with weird, colorful flourishes from the band. Where Miles in the Sky meandered a bit, this is considerably more focused, even on the three songs that run over ten minutes, yet it still feels transitional. Not tentative (which In the Sky was), but certainly the music that would spring full bloom on In a Silent Way was still in the gestation phase, and despite the rock-blues-n-funk touches here, the music doesn't fly and search the way that Nefertiti did. But that's not a bad thing — this middle ground between the adventurous bop of the mid-'60s and the fusion of the late '60s is rewarding in its own right, since it's possible to hear great musicians find the foundation of a new form. For that alone, Filles de Kilimanjaro is necessary listening.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Post-Bop
Fusion

Tracks:
01 Frelon Brun (Brown Hornet)
02 Tout de Suite
03 Petits Machins (Little Stuff)
04 Filles de Kilimanjaro
05 Mademoiselle Mabry (Miss Mabry)

Line-up:
Ron Carter - bass (tracks 2-4 & 6)
Chick Corea - piano / electric piano (tracks 1 & 5)
Miles Davis - trumpet
Herbie Hancock - piano / electric piano (tracks 2-4 & 6)
Dave Holland - bass (tracks 1 & 5)
Wayne Shorter - tenor saxophone
Tony Williams - drums