Sunday 5 January 2014

Review: Miles Davis - The Complete Bitches Brew

‘The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions’ is a bit of a misnomer, and one that has drawn some small negative criticism its way. The music for ‘Bitches Brew’ was recorded over three very productive days in August of 1969, much like ‘In A Silent Way’ before it. Also, just as with ‘In A Silent Way’, it was for the most part constructed from music cut, spliced and looped by Miles Davis and producer Teo Macero. And for years fans argued (with both albums) whether or not the original master material was unheard genius, and Macero had ruined Miles’ work, or whether the original material was so bad, so unlistenable, that Macero had effectively salvaged the recordings and had gone unthanked.

When the ‘In A Silent Way’ complete sessions were eventually released as a box set, fans finally got to hear, for the first time ever, the original master tapes, before any cutting or editing work. Teo Macero furiously bemoaned their release, making it clear that Miles would not want any of this unreleased ‘work in progress’ material released, and neither did he himself. The more he protested though, the more the fans salivated. Where earlier box sets had given the listener unreleased snippets and takes, or even in some case whole entire unreleased songs, this was going to give the fans complete and whole material by Miles, as he’d played and recorded it, before it had been ‘hacked to ribbons’, and then ‘pasted back together’.

In fact, what the untouched material showed when it was eventually heard was that the original finished album released back in 1969 was perfect, and that the previously unreleased ‘demos’, while interesting, were incomplete. They were a curio, but musically, nowhere close to what had already been given to us.

What this four-disc box-set gives us though is very different. The complete six tracks from the original album sit proudly at the front, but there are no demo tracks or untouched fragments that would later make up the legendary album. What we instead get is three hours of unreleased material from recording sessions five months later in 1970. So not quite ‘The Complete Bitches Brew’ then, but more some additional largely unheard music recorded by most of the same musicians recorded sometime later that was probably quite difficult for the record label to package and market as a standalone release. Whether the criticism of this naming stands or not, this music is incredible, and the fact it remained in Columbias vaults for twenty-five years is testament to Miles’ quality control.

Including pieces from the previously released ‘Big Fun’, the overall package thematically contains the last presence of multiple keyboards. Later Miles would make his music much more guitar heavy, and eventually lose the keyboards altogether (unlike other jazz and funk acts who conversely were losing guitars to add more keyboards). These sessions were to be no ‘Bitches Brew 2’ though, and Miles sought to change direction again. For these sessions he chose the sitar and classical Indian influences.

‘Great Expectations’ and its segue ‘Orange Lady’ is a key track well-worth its inclusion, with its prowling bass, sinister trumpet and washes of sitar. Brooding and funky, it’s a truly awesome piece of music and shows a potential future direction, that though tantalizing was obviously considered by Miles to have no future. David Crosbys ‘Guinnevere’ too gets a beautiful, though barely recognizable, sitar laden remake.

‘Corrado’ and ‘The Little Blue Frog’ are great funk numbers that hint at what actual path Miles would later take, although here perhaps more lush, while ‘Recollections’ and ‘Lonely Fire’ feature such incredible solos, it’s a wonder that these weren’t released or at least edited into other tracks later on.

For the most part, the new music here differs in sound to the older more well-known ‘Bitches Brew’ material. While still possessing a dense sound, where ‘Bitches Brew’ was dark, murky, at times almost claustrophobic in sound, the newer pieces here appear more lush, and more in the direction of jazz-funk than the earlier jazz-rock. Ignore the complainers – this is vital and exciting music, helping show us the linking music between ‘Bitches Brew’ and the later funk-heavy sound Miles would adopt. Its release here, in a lavish presentation book with superb artwork, photographs and essays, is a cause for celebration.

*****

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