BITCHES BREW

"On August 19,1969, the day after Jimi Hendrix's sunrise set concluded the now-legendary Woodstock Music and Art Fair, Miles Davis began recording Bitches Brew..." These words are on the back of my "Bitches Brew" cd. I have this picture in my head, like a photo of my only memory from 1969, of this girl who I liked, driving by my house in the summer, smiling and waving at me from the passenger seat of her dad's mustang. I was 8 years old and that event made my summer. Haha. You could call this double album the crazy, adventerous, over-the-top brother of "In A Silent Way". You can tell they are brothers, there are similarities, but while the older brother is the quiet one, the younger one is at times out of his mind. So yeah "Bitches Brew" turned as many people "off" as it did "on", but the fact is you can't ignore it, it won't let you. I love all the information and interviews in the liner notes. I like when Zawinul talks about hanging with Miles and going to watch fights (boxing) and how they rarely talked about music. They just did what friends do.

Disc one features two side long suites. First up is Zawinul's "Pharoah's Dance" which starts of in a fairly laid back way reminding me of "In A Silent Way". It's slowly building though with all these beautiful sounds filling the air. Joe Zawinul, Larry Young and Chick Corea are all on electric piano while Lenny White and Jack DeJohnette are on the drum kits. Shorter on sax, Davis on trumpet, McLaughlin on guitar, Holland on bass, Brooks electric bass, Maupin on bass clarinet, Alias on shaker and Riley on cogas.This same lineup played on the first track of the second disc "Spanish Key". Back to "Pharoah's Dance" where before the 4 minute mark the trumpet starts to lead the way and congas comes in. Amazing section. It then settles before 8 minutes and changes as piano comes more to the fore. Trumpet's back leading less than a minute later. Great sound ! It's intense 12 1/2 minutes in as sax and trumpet blast away. McLaughlin comes in around 13 minutes and makes some beautiful noise with his guitar. So impressive. Piano gradually takes over until a calm before 15 1/2 minutes.Trumpet and sax start to dominate before 17 minutes until it settles 18 1/2 minutes in to the end. "Bitches Brew" has the same lineup as the first track except Larry Young isn't on it. Outbursts of sound come and go including the trumpet which sounds very cool. Bass clarinet after 3 minutes as the song settles and piano and light drums come in as it builds. This is groovy man. Miles comes in at 4 minutes and starts blasting away. Check out the drumming 5 1/2 minutes in. It settles a minute later as McLaughlin comes in.This is tripin' music. The piano sounds so good. Miles is back 9 minutes in and he gets intense 2 minutes later. Love all the intricate sounds and band interplay here. It settles before 13 minutes. Drums and piano start to lead the way. There's that trumpet from the intro back 16 minutes in. Settles again 17 1/2 minutes in to a beautiful soundscape.The trumpet is back 19 1/2 minutes in as it starts to get intense again. It calms right down 22 minutes in and starts to build again. Another calm 24 minutes in before we get those trumpet blasts a minute later like earlier in the song.That's how it ends. Nice.

Disc two begins with "Spanish Key" which starts with a good beat and bass clarinet as trumpet comes in. Shorter and Davis duel it out. Tasteful guitar before 4 minutes. Great sound a minute later. So much going on here. Intense sound before 8 minutes until it settles with guitar and paino before 10 1/2 minutes. The trumpet is back. A fuller sound after 14 minutes especially the drums and piano. It settles down a minute later and bass clarinet returns. "John McLaughlin" opens with drums, piano and guitar standing out. Love McLaughlin's style here. This is so intricate and amazing. Drums are impressive as well. The bass clarinet adds some depth too. "Miles Runs The Voodoo Down" has Alias replacing White on the drums. Some funk on this tune.Trumpet starts to lead the way before 2 minutes. Guitar before 4 1/2 minutes as the trumpet stops. Nice bass too. Great sound here. Sax takes the lead and then the piano becomes prominant. The trumpet is back late and blasting away before 12 1/2 minutes. "Sanctuary" is where it gets pretty chaotic as they contrast those laid back sounds with the intense outbursts throughout. Fantastic song !

This is not only an influential recording but one that I also really enjoy from start to finish.