BITCHES BREW

Birth of the fusion. Messy, full of dissonant chords and figures, simultaneous played themes, sudden outbursts, solos in strange scales, microtune intervals, tons of reverb and echo, and slowly developed soundscapes. Don't expect any polished and organized fusion, this is to come in the later years. Only the rhythmn stays somewhat stable and in a moderate tempo. Davis' trumpet is always crystal clear, hissing and distinctive, playing minimalistic figures and solos.

I like the first track, Pharao's dance, where Davis, near the end introduces an abstract melody which he repeats and dissolves, too bad this part is so short.

This record is demanding, not easy to swallow and not a record to listen for when doing something else. It demands your time and attention, but it gives much back to you. I find it an essential record for the music history.

I find it is a drawback that there are so few recognizable structures (figures and melody) that cold work as a reference for all the extravaganzas mentioned above. I somtimes get lost and miss the point after 10-20 min of unstructured jamming.

4 stars.