‘Bitches Brew’ unsurprisingly on its initial release
caused a great deal of controversy. The album was not ‘an album by Miles
Davis’, but instead bore the heading ‘Directions In Music By Miles Davis’. This
caused a minor furore but was quickly over-shadowed by the artwork, which had
dared to be completely different from any other previous jazz album. To add
further fuel to the fire this was a double album? In jazz? By the time the
critics got to the actual title of the album, Miles must have been both smiling
and readying himself for the critical knives-sharpening.
Recorded in just three days in August of 1969, sharing
much in common with the previous ‘In A Silent Way’ recorded just six months
earlier, ‘Bitches Brew’ is a darker, funkier and more aggressive take on jazz
than jazz fans before had ever anticipated.
All of the musicians from the previous recording
returned, with the exception of Tony Williams and Herbie Hancock, and a further
seven joined. Not all thirteen musicians are present on all tracks but it still
results in a dense and heady wall of sound. Jazz and rock had been bubbling
away for a good while by the time it had arrived, but ‘Bitches Brew’ marked a
huge shift. ‘Bitches Brew’ was considered THE jazz album to have this huge a
level of influence, and it was the pivotal point for the birth of what would soon
be dubbed ‘fusion’.
Similar to ‘In A Silent Way’ perhaps in method, the
music itself is different in several very important ways. The music is denser, and
murkier than before, a good deal of this is due to the two bassists’ present,
playing electric and acoustic bass, multiple drummers and percussionists, and
three electric piano players. All these playing at once, the resulting
poly-rhythmic sound is mesmerising and hypnotic. The other major contributor to
this new sound is Bennie Maupin who plays the bass clarinet throughout. There
are no solos or rhythm pieces from Maupin, just layers of ‘dark sound’ from the
clarinet – either shadowing other instruments or just adding to the haze in the
atmosphere. Miles himself blasts through the murk helped by producer Teo Macero,
clearly realising the renewed energy and spirit in his playing, by bringing him
right to the front of the mix.
The two discs themselves that make up the album are
actually quite different. Disc one seeming overall more experimental and more
the product of Teo Maceros cuts and edits. Disc two seeming more composed and
more aggressive.
‘Pharoah’s Dance’ has a long slow brooding building
feel to it, with sporadic jams, and frenetic builds before giving way to quiet
passages. Strong solos from Miles feature prominently. And because there were
so many quality moments, Teo Macero took out John McLaughlins 4 minute guitar
freak out, entitled it ‘John McLauchlin’ and put it in the middle of the more
aggressive second disc. Like its most obvious cousin, ‘In A Silent Way’, ‘Pharoahs
Dance’ has atmosphere in spades.
The album then changes gear with the title track, by
starting with a sombre bass beat, before Miles comes in with an echo-laden
trumpet that both haunts and plays with the listener, with the rest of the band
coming in shortly afterwards. Guitar and pianos all work together to add a
colourful rhythm, without ever coming to the fore and dominating proceedings.
The band stops here and there, allowing the listener to hear just anonymous
finger clicks and that sombre bass beat. The band plays with undulating sounds
and volume before ending everything with just the bass fading in and out with
Miles echo trumpet playing us out.
The first disc has slower, sometimes even mellower,
grooves; whereas the second punches in a harder beat with the superb, almost
centre-piece like, ‘Spanish Key’. A pacy strutting, stop-start build-up of
basses and drums, with what sounds like the band one-by-one tuning up in the
background ready to enter. The horns of
Miles and Wayne Shorter walk in and riff, then we’re hit with the first
break-up hook from Chick Corea (that is certainly my highlight from the album).
From here, the pianos add to the mix, and the guitar takes lead. A completely
unedited take, the infectious heady groove keeps going incessantly, grabbing
you, before that hook comes in again, and everything starts up again. Ending
like a jam session, one-by-one the musicians start to tail off, gradually into
silence.
Things then fade back in, almost seguing with John
McLaughlin’s eponymous track. A strong bass and piano rhythm covered in waves
of superb keyboard washes with McLaughlin laying down hot guitar licks. Ending
as it begun, it fades out having won us further admiration for the always
excellent guitarist.
‘Miles Runs The Voodoo Down’ wins points for
possessing one of the greatest titles of all time, as well being a masterpiece
in its own right regardless. The slow strutting bass beat again leads up to
Miles vamping in, leading the band, and then reclining to let them take over,
before returning to lead them out. With a strong Hendrix influence, the track
is easily the grittiest funkiest number here.
Wayne Shorter’s ‘Sanctuary’ closes the album, redone here
as an electric jazz ballad opening, with Miles wistful trumpet, giving way to
light keyboard flourishes. This gives the album’s end a frightening sounding
frenetic climax.
An exhilarating ride, ‘Bitches Brew’ is not for
everyone. Critics were polarized on its initial release, and this has for a
good part changed with the passing of time. Alongside Miles’ ‘Kind Of Blue’, it
is often cited as being the biggest selling jazz album of all time, indeed it went
gold after just a few month.
Extra controversy was saved for the cut and edit
techniques employed by Teo Macero though. Whereas ‘In A Silent Way’ had used a
few edits and loops, and had critics grumbling quietly, ‘Bitches Brew’ used a
completely different tack. ‘Pharoah’s Dance’ in particular was composed out of
nineteen separate edits, loops and cuts to construct the music that Miles
wanted. This prompted loud criticisms of this new way of recording, with the
declaration being that jazz should be improvised in the studio, with one band
in a single take. Such shouts were clearly bunk and Miles soon found himself
playing to thousands, and leading the way forward in the new genre of fusion.
Jazz soon then either chose to go electric, adopt electric instrumentation, or
stay 100% acoustic for the purists. When Miles was eventually asked if he still
played jazz – his reply was: “I don’t play jazz, I play music.”
Some people love it, others hate it – but no-one is
indifferent to ‘Bitches Brew’. Undeniably it creates a strong and powerful feeling
inside of you. Regardless of what you've heard, it demands your attention.
*****
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