Heeding the artist's call to stay fresh creatively, trumpeter Miles Davis reinvented himself several times over the course of his career. The jazz counterpart of Pablo Picasso, Miles changed the face of music forever in 1970 when he released Bitches Brew, his most adventurous, most controversial and ironically one of his best-selling recordings. It scored him his first gold record and his second Grammy award. The double-LP proved to be the shot heard 'round the jazz world, a revolutionary and influential release that signaled the advent of fusion. The Penguin Guide to Jazz calls Bitches Brew "one of the most remarkable creative statements of the last 50 years, in any form."
Columbia/Legacy recently released The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions, a four-CD package that includes nine previously unissued tracks and several numbers that were released on such other Davis albums as Big Fun, Circle in the Round and Live-Evil. At the core of Bitches Brew was the Miles Davis Quintet, circa 1968-69: saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Chick Corea, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Jack DeJohnette.
When Davis headed into the studio he was after something more radical and dramatic. He invited several important young musicians of the day, including bass clarinetist Bennie Maupin, guitarist John McLaughlin, keyboardists Joe Zawinul and Larry Young, electric bassist Harvey Brooks, drummer Lenny White and percussionists Don Alias and Jumma Santos. Over the course of three days in August 1969, the band laid down six long, dense tracks of innovative music bearing the influence of Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, Marvin Gaye and Karlheinz Stockhausen. These sessions were released as Bitches Brew.
Miles visited the studio twice more in 1969 and two other times in early 1970 with most of these same players. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter on occasion, Davis alumni Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter sat in on one session and additional guests included drummer Billy Cobham, percussionist Airto Moreira, amplified sitarist Khalil Balakrishna and tabla player Bihari Sharma.
Augmenting the original Bitches Brew release with recorded material from the four additional studio dates was a purely musical one made by producer Bob Belden. "This was a particularly busy time of Miles's career," says Seth Rothstein of Columbia/Legacy. "He was recording quickly, but also evolving his approach quickly. Shortly after the sessions used for this box, Miles formed a smaller, guitar-led band and headed in the direction of Jack Johnson. So this material made sense to include as part of the Bitches Brew period."
Unlike other Davis box sets from Legacy, The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions opens with the six Bitches Brew tracks in their LP sequence, satisfying those who want to hear the tracks in their original order.
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