Bitches Brew [Remaster]

Performer: Miles Davis
Engineer: Frank Laico; Stan Tonkel
Producer: Teo Macero
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); John McLaughlin (guitar, electric guitar); Harvey Brooks (electric guitar, electric bass, bass guitar); Bennie Maupin (bass clarinet); Wayne Shorter (soprano saxophone); Joe Zawinul (electric piano, organ); Chick Corea, Larry Young (electric piano); Don Alias (drums, congas, percussion); Jack DeJohnette, Lenny White (drums); Jumma Santos (congas, shaker, percussion); Airto Moreira (cuica, percussion); Jim Riley, Jimmy Riley (percussion). Recording information: Columbia Recording Studio B., New York, NY (08/19/1969-01/28/1970). Illustrator: Mati Klarwein. 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 draw upon elements of popular culture, without mitigating its spirit of spontaneous invention. Much as Ornette Coleman's THE SHAPE 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 jazz with 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 he is 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.

Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.118) - Ranked #94 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "...The word 'fusion' was never big enough to describe the visceral thrill of these explosive studio explorations and the pioneering tape-edit wizardry of producer Ted Macero..." Rolling Stone (5/28/70, p.50) - "...Miles' music continues to grow in its beauty, subtlety and sheer magnificence...these chaps have discovered a new way to cook..." Q (4/99, p.128) - Included in Q's "Best Jazz Albums of All Time." Down Beat (p.66) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he pitch-shifting echoes at the start of the title track seemingly drift into infinity."

Few musicians have managed to change the course of music--trumpeter Miles Davis did it several times. An early disciple of Charlie Parker, Davis created an austere, understated approach that became the model for cool. His superb albums in the 1950s made him a star, and in the following decade, he brought small-group jazz to the limit before he unapologetically (and, for some, unforgivably) took on jazz-rock. After a break, he re-emerged in the '80s with a mixture of pop and dense, bristling funk. All the while, his refusal to follow anyone but his own muse made him both a hero and an enigma--either way, he was one of the most magnetic, influential figures in American music.

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