The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions
Encyclopedia
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
box set of music recordings by trumpeter Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
. The set collects all tracks Davis recorded between August 19, 1969 and February 6, 1970, including the 1970 double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
Bitches Brew
Bitches Brew
Bitches Brew is a studio double album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in April 1970 on Columbia Records. The album continued his experimentation with electric instruments previously featured on his critically acclaimed In a Silent Way album...
in its entirety. However, the title of the box set is somewhat of a misnomer: outside of the Bitches Brew tracks themselves, none of the other tracks appeared on Bitches Brew upon its original release, nor were they recorded during the same August 1969 sessions that resulted in Bitches Brew. Furthermore, additional material recorded for, but not used in Bitches Brew, is not included in this set; mainly rehearsal takes and unedited performances of the six album tracks. These have however later been illegally bootlegged and given the titles Deep Brew Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.
When questioned by Paul Tingen why most of the material in fact was not recorded either for or at the same sessions as the original album, re-issue producer Bob Belden
Bob Belden
James Robert Belden is an American saxophonist, arranger, composer, bandleader and producer. He is noted for his Grammy Award winning jazz orchestral recording titled The Black Dahlia. He is also a past head of A & R for Blue Note Records.Belden was born in Evanston, Illinois, and raised in...
cleared up how their thought process went. According to him and the engineer all the songs Miles Davis recorded between August 1969 and early February 1970 used very similar line-ups to those on Bitches Brew and the main thing they all had in common was the emphasis on keyboards. Every song here includes two to three keyboard players, most often Chick Corea
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
, Joe Zawinul
Joe Zawinul
Josef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
and Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
. It wasn't until late in February 1970 that Davis refined his concept by dropping the multiple electric pianists and going for a more guitar-heavy sound. Those following sessions were collected on The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions
The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions
The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions were recorded in April 1970 by Miles Davis, and released in September 2003. These sessions formed the basis for the 1970 album A Tribute to Jack Johnson....
.
The box set includes some tracks that had never been previously released, one of which, the Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
composition "Feio," has since appeared as a bonus track
Bonus track
In terms of recorded music, a bonus track is a piece of music which has been included on specific releases or reissues of an album. This is most often done as a promotional device, either as an incentive to customers to purchase albums they might otherwise not, or to repurchase albums they already...
on late compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
reissues of Bitches Brew. A few of the other tracks in the box set had previously appeared on the albums Live-Evil, Big Fun, and Circle in the Round
Circle in the Round
Circle in the Round is an album by jazz musician Miles Davis. It collects outtakes from a variety of sessions.Despite its lack of unity, Circle in the Round was an essential release in that, apart from 1950s recordings with Davis's quintet and sextet, it documented key moments in his career, until...
.
The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions is chronologically number "6" in a series of Miles Davis box sets issued by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
/Legacy Records/Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
(the numbering scheme refers to the chronological order of the original recordings, not the release order of the box sets themselves). The set was reissued on 11 May 2004 with new packaging.
Track listing
Disc one- "Pharaoh's Dance" (Joe ZawinulJoe ZawinulJosef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
) – 20:06 - "Bitches Brew" (Miles Davis) – 26:58
- "Spanish Key" (Davis) – 17:34
- "John McLaughlin" (Davis) – 4:22
Disc two
- "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" (Davis) – 14:01
- "Sanctuary" (Wayne ShorterWayne ShorterWayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
) – 10:56 - "Great Expectations" (Davis - Zawinul) – 13:45 available on Big Fun
- "Orange Lady" (Zawinul) – 13:50 available on Big Fun
- "Yaphet" (Davis) – 9:39 previously unreleased
- "Corrado" (Davis) – 13:11 previously unreleased
Disc three
- "Trevere" (Davis) – 5:55 previously unreleased
- "The Big Green Serpent" (Davis) – 3:35 previously unreleased
- "The Little Blue Frog" (alternate take) (Davis) – 12:13 previously unreleased
- "The Little Blue Frog" (Davis) – 9:09 previously unreleased
- "Lonely Fire" (Davis) – 21:09 available on Big Fun
- "GuinnevereGuinnevere"Guinnevere" is a folk song written by David Crosby in 1969. The song appears on Crosby, Stills & Nash's critically acclaimed eponymous debut album. The song is notable for its serene yet pointed melody and its unique lyrics, which compare Queen Guinevere to the object of the singer's affection,...
" (David CrosbyDavid CrosbyDavid Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
) – 21:07 available on Circle in the RoundCircle in the RoundCircle in the Round is an album by jazz musician Miles Davis. It collects outtakes from a variety of sessions.Despite its lack of unity, Circle in the Round was an essential release in that, apart from 1950s recordings with Davis's quintet and sextet, it documented key moments in his career, until...
Disc four
- "Feio" (Shorter) – 11:49 previously unreleased
- "Double Image" (Zawinul) – 8:25 previously unreleased
- "Recollections" (Zawinul) – 18:54 previously unreleased
- "Take It or Leave It" (Zawinul) – 2:13 previously unreleased
- "Medley: Gemini / Double Image" (Zawinul) – 5:52 available on Live-Evil
Personnel
Collective listing for all recording sessions.- Miles DavisMiles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
- TrumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, Vocals - Don AliasDon AliasCharles 'Don' Alias was an American jazz percussionist.Alias was best known for playing congas and other hand drums...
- PercussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, CongaCongaThe conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
, DrumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s - Khalil Balakrishna - SitarSitarThe 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
- Harvey BrooksHarvey BrooksHarvey Brooks is an American bassist. He has played in many styles of music...
- BassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, Electric bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Ron CarterRon CarterRon Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
- Bass - Billy CobhamBilly CobhamWilliam C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
- Drums, TriangleTriangle (instrument)The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve... - Chick CoreaChick CoreaArmando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
- Electric pianoElectric pianoAn electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented... - Jack DeJohnetteJack DeJohnetteJack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. He is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, due to extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians like Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Sonny...
- Drums - Steve Grossman - Soprano saxophoneSoprano saxophoneThe soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...
- Herbie HancockHerbie HancockHerbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
- Electric piano - Dave HollandDave HollandDave Holland is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for 40 years....
- Bass, Electric bass - Bennie MaupinBennie MaupinBennie Maupin is a Detroit Michigan jazz multireedist. He performs on various saxophones, flute and bass clarinet.He is probably best known for his participation in Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi sextet and Headhunters band, and for performing on Miles Davis's seminal fusion record, Bitches Brew...
- Bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet... - John McLaughlinJohn McLaughlin (musician)John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
- GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Airto MoreiraAirto MoreiraAirto Moreira is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. Airto is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. He currently resides in Los Angeles.-Biography:...
- BerimbauBerimbauThe berimbau is a single-string percussion instrument, a musical bow, from Brazil. The berimbau's origins are not entirely clear, but there is not much doubt about its African origin, as no Indigenous Brazilian or European people use musical bows, and very similar instruments are played in the...
, CuícaCuícaCuíca , or "kweeca", is a Brazilian friction drum often used in samba music. The tone it produces has a high-pitched squeaky timbre. It has been called a 'laughing gourd' due to this sound....
, Percussion - Bihari Sharma - TablaTablaThe tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
, TambouraTamburaThe tambura, tanpura, or tambora is a long-necked plucked lute . The body shape of the tambura somewhat resembles that of the sitar, but it has no frets – only the open strings are played to accompany other musicians... - Wayne Shorter - Soprano saxophone
- Juma SantosJuma SantosJuma Santos, also known as James P. Riley and Dr. Juma Santos was a percussionist and master drummer known for his extensive work over four decades with African music, caribbean music, jazz, fusion, and R&B artists.Born James P...
(Jim Riley) - Conga, Shaker - Lenny WhiteLenny WhiteLeonard White III, better known as Lenny White is an American jazz fusion drummer, who is best known for playing in Chick Corea's Return to Forever.-Biography:...
- Drums - Larry YoungLarry Young (jazz)Larry Young Larry Young Larry Young (also known as Khalid Yasin (Abdul Aziz) (October 7, 1940 in Newark, New Jersey—March 30, 1978 in New York City) was an American jazz organist and occasional pianist. Young pioneered a modal approach to the Hammond B-3 (in contrast to Jimmy Smith's...
- OrganOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, CelesteCelestaThe celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
, Electric piano - Joe ZawinulJoe ZawinulJosef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
- Electric piano