Miles Davis and the "Lost Quintet"

Miles Davis' late 1969/early 1970 performances with the "Lost Quintet" (Miles Davis (tpt); Wayne Shorter (ss, ts); Chick Corea (el-p); Dave Holland (b, el-b); Jack DeJohnette (d)) are unquestionably some of the most exciting of this long career. Named for the fact that they never recorded as a five-man lineup in the studio, and up until the 2001 release of Live At Fillmore East (March 7, 1970): It's About That Time, had never been featured on an official release, the "Lost Quintet" played an overwhelmingly important role in bridging Miles' older, more familiar material with his new electric direction. This meant that sets saw the unlikely pairing of standards like "'Round Midnight" or "I Fall In Love Too Easily" with "Bitches Brew" and "Miles Run The Voodoo Down," often segueing into one another to create a singular suite, and all overflowing with incredible intensity. A monumental task that produced amazing results. Jack DeJohnette and Chick Corea are absolutely ferocious on both of these recordings.

July 25, 1969
La Pinède, Juan-les-Pins
1. Directions
2. Miles Runs the Voodoo Down
3. Milestones
4. Footprints
5. 'Round Midnight
6. It's About That Time
7. Sanctuary/The Theme

November 3, 1969
Salle Pleyel, Paris
(First Set)
1. Directions
2. Bitches Brew
3. Paraphanalia
4. Riot
5. I Fall In Love Too Easily
5. Sanctuary
6. Miles Runs The Voodoo Down/The Theme

(Second Set)
1. Introduction
2. Bitches Brew
3. Agitation
4. I Fall In Love Too Easily
5. Sanctuary
6. Masqualero
7. It's About That Time

Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette

Ruta and Daitya - 1971
In this midst of their tenure with Miles Davis' group, pianist Keith Jarrett and drummer Jack DeJohnette stole away a little time while in Los Angeles to create Ruta and Daitya. Alternating between avant-funk and minimalist classic jazz, the LP comprises a group of brilliant sketches that serve as a meditative counterpoint to what the duo were producing on stage and in the studio with Miles. Jarrett is undoubtedly the master of ceremonies here, improvising from end to end and effortlessly switching from woodwinds, acoustic and electric pianos, sometimes playing two at once, but always working within the confines of the two man ensemble as DeJohnette works the range of his kit and taps away on African percussion. I initially approached this album with the expectation that it would be similar to Miles' work around this same time. Although it's a logical extension from that, Ruta and Daitya is a different animal entirely. Enjoy.

Stan Getz

Captain Marvel - 1972
Having famously paired with Joao Gilberto for 1963's massive Getz/Gilberto bossa nova summit, it's no surprise that another equally successful collaboration was in the cards for Stan Getz. At the time he was forming his Return to Forever band, Chick Corea got wind that Getz was on the hunt for a band with which to tour and record new material. Putting his own project on temporary hiatus, Corea plucked Airto Moriera and Stanley Clarke from his fledgling group and enlisted fellow Miles alum, Tony Williams on drums. The resulting album is almost exactly what you'd expect this collection of greats to turn out, and every bit as incredible as Getz better known Gilberto collaboration. With Corea originals making up five of the album's six tunes and Airto's Brazillian percussion filling out the mix, Captain Marvel has a heavy Latin bend throughout, but the percussive plunk of Rhodes piano and controlled chaos of Williams behind the kit pulls it all so slightly into fusion territory. Unquestionably one of Getz' finest moments of the decade, and a fascinating glimpse as to how straight these Davis graduates could play it when they wanted to.

Nucleus

Elastic Rock - 1970

By 1970, the influence of Miles Davis' electric directions ran as deep as could be imagined. Cannonball Adderley fused deep R&B grooves into his repertoire, Carlos Santana stretched into the realm of ambient jazz, and Weather Report built the entirety of their early career around the understated sonic explorations that Davis stretched to the breaking point with In a Silent Way. But across the Atlantic, Ian Carr and Nucleus took a more literal approach to absorbing Miles' influence - they simply copied the blueprint. But that's not to say that the results weren't spectacular in their own right. With a traditional jazz lineup plus the addition of electric guitar and electric piano (either a Wurlitzer or Hohner Pianet, as opposed to the Fender Rhodes that Miles favored), Elastic Rock harkens back to the electric explorations that lead up to Filles De Kilimanjaro rather than unwisely aping the Bitches Brew material that left so many groups reeling. The compositions are also extremely short by fusion standards, with many of its 14 tracks hanging around the two minute mark - making Elastic Rock come off as a collection of fragments, sketches and half-baked ideas on the surface, while in reality, its cohesiveness is stunning. Moody, thrilling, and unmistakably familiar, Nucleus’ first effort is a solid foundation for a band that would soon take the ideas explored here to the furthest reaches.

Heat Warps Music Nerd Fast Fact: Nucleus drummer John Marshall and keyboardist Karl Jenkins left the group to join Soft Machine in 1976.

Tony Williams Lifetime

Emergency! - 1969

As the first great fusion power trio, Tony Williams (drums), John McLaughlin (guitar) and Larry Young (organ) formed on the heels of Williams' departure as a longtime member of Miles Davis' band. Legend has it, that having already solidified the lineup for his group, Williams showed up for Miles' recording of In a Silent Way and was shocked to find that the bandleader had also booked McLaughlin for the session. In protest, Williams toned down his characteristically thunderous drumming for Davis' session and saved his venom for the recording of Emergency! a few months later. The resulting LP was supremely intense, even by Williams' standards - and despite being dismissed by purists upon its release, is now appreciated as the defining document of jazz/rock that it is...but then, don't ALL the great fusion records from this era share this story? The trio is on the edge of boiling over throughout this double LP, pulling the reins only to make room for Williams' sporadic stoned soliloquies (oddly fitting at points, mildly annoying at others), and plowing back into some ferocious jams just before the bottom drops out. A complete mess, but a focused and inspired one. Cream bassist Jack Bruce would join the band on their next LP Turn It Over, but the songs became shorter, tighter and more pop-oriented - proving further that they had it right the first time.

Miles Davis

At Fillmore - 1971

The result of a four-night stand at the Fillmore East running from June 17-20, 1970, At Fillmore is among the finest, and undoubtedly the most controversial live album in Miles' official catalogue. In order to fit Miles' Wednesday-Saturday residency into a double LP package, producer Teo Macero pulled some of the finer moments from each night and stitched them together to form a medley that took up a single side of vinyl. Initially, some listeners derided Macero's efforts on the basis that several tunes were repeated throughout the album, while others bellyached that editing the songs in such a fashion removed the groove that propelled each night's set. More savvy listeners however, heard the album as a brilliant distillation of Miles' live performance and a compelling record of the band's ability to so drastically reinterpret the same material night after night. Aside from the addition of Keith Jarrett on a wah-wah'd combo organ, At Fillmore features the same personnel that produced the live Black Beauty LP only two months previous - yet the two albums are so different that they could have been recorded years apart. Whereas Black Beauty was loose, mean document, ferocious to the point of frightening, At Fillmore is ambient, funky, tightly wound and extremely focused. On Black Beauty, the music was in complete control. Here, the ensemble holds the reins. Listen close. The results are absolutely incredible.

Betty Davis

They Say I'm Different - 1974

While her groundbreaking debut featured members of Sly and the Family Stone, Graham Central Station and Tower of Power, their absence on her second LP, They Say I'm Different, only helped to illuminate Betty Davis' talent as a songwriter, arranger and vocalist ... not to mention how it elevated her to the status of high priestess of funk. Continuing to explore the aggressive sexual lyrical themes of her first album, Davis' venom is even more potent the second time around, most notably the subject of her marriage to Miles in "He Was A Big Freak." He was a big freak/I used to beat him with a turquoise chain ... He was a big freak/Flim flam floosie fantasy ... etc. Outrageous lyrics aside, They Say I'm Different is tremendous on many fronts; the tunes have much more breathing room without an all-star cast of musicians propelling them, and in turn, stealing each other's thunder; the keyboards, and there are a whole army of them (Rhodes, Calvinets, Hammonds, et all), play against and off of one another with incredible fluidity; and the stop/start rhythm section rivals that of the might Larry Graham and Grec Errico, who made her debut LP such a heavy funk bonanza. A remastered version complete with bonus tracks was released a couple of years ago by the fantastic Light in the Attic.

Miles Davis

The Lost Mid-70s Sessions - 1973-76
This scattershot collection has been compiled on numerous occasions and in many forms, most notably on the bootleg sets Unknown Sessions 1973-1976: Volume 1 and Unknown Sessions 1974-1976: Volume 2. As the title implies, the collection featured here includes the various studio jams in their un-editied forms that would appear on Davis' mid-70s LPs, as well as successful funk studio workouts the band would add to their live repertoire up until Miles "retirement" in '76. And while there are plenty of fine moments in this collection, including a couple of truly wicked takes on "Agharta Prelude Pt. 2," the overarching feel is that of a weary, unfocused and uninspired Miles Davis. When he attempts to solo here - over a band that is painfully beyond his control in comparison to the taught precision of his Jack DeJohnette-led ensembles at the turn of the decade - his horn is heavily processed and his tone is often aching and thin, but thankfully, and most interestingly, he resorts to playing the organ throughout the majority of this material. A six-disc Columbia box titled Beyond the Corner is rumored to be in the works, and will almost certainly pull from these sessions.

Miles Davis

Deep Brew (Bitches Brew Recording Sessions) - 1969
Volume 1, Volume 2
Aside from being among the most powerful statements in the history of recorded music, Miles Davis' 1969 Bitches Brew LP also stands as a testament to the incredible editing work of the album's producer, Teo Macero. Throughout three studio sessions on August 19-21, 1969, Miles led ensembles of up to 13 musicians through numerous song sketches, bizarre atonal experiments and dense polyrhythmic vamps that forced them to listen closely to one another and allow the music to take on a life of its own. In some of the quieter moments you can actually hear Miles giving instructions by snapping his fingers to set the tempo, telling individuals where to solo, or, in his distinctive whisper, saying, "Keep it tight"; indicating that all the while he and Macero maintained a clear picture of how they would fuse these sections into cohesive compositions. Considering this method of recording, the resulting LP is nothing short of astonishing.

Going well beyond the expansive Complete Bitches Brew Sessions box set, Deep Brew, Volumes 1 & 2 collects nearly all of the material recorded during those August sessions. Amazing stuff.

*Many, many thanks to Heat Warps' visitor Hansame for sharing this incredible set!

Miles Davis

Directions - 1980

To satiate his fans during his "retirement" in the late 70s, Columbia issued two fine rarities collections that focused on the rarely-heard (at that time) transitional periods of Miles Davis' career, Circle in the Round, which chronicled the years 1955-1970, and Directions, which covered 1960-1970. While Circle in the Round is notable for containing an all-acoustic version of Sanctuary, a tune that was later re-recorded in full electric glory for Bitches Brew, as well as a hauntingly majestic rendition of David Crosby's Guennevere, Directions simply overflows with gems from Miles' late 60s fusion peak - the rare period before everyone else fell in line and the road belonged to Miles alone. The Complete In A Silent Way and Jack Johnson session box sets have since collected most of the tunes on Directions, however this double LP places them in a context that illustrates Miles' transformation like neither of the sessions sets could, simply because it speeds up the process. Highlights include the tightly-wound funk morsel "Duran" featuring a smokin' John McLaughlin and "Willie Nelson" in all its wah-wah glory. Dig it now.

*Another fine Slidewell contribution. Thanks again to him for sharing the wealth with The Heat Warps.

Miroslav Vitous

Mountain In The Clouds/Infinite Search - 1969

Much like John McLaughlin's Devotion LP, Mountain in the Clouds was recorded in that rare pocket of time after which all of its players had (in most cases) recently left Miles Davis' band, but hadn't yet formed their own groups. The music is, not surprisingly, very similar to what Miles was doing towards the end of the 60s and at many points sounds like Bitches Brew filtered through a smaller ensemble. Originally released in 1969, but trimmed down and reissued the same year (who on Earth knows why...), the version here is the original Mountain in the Clouds LP and therefore contains the track "Cerecka" which was trimmed from the subsequent Infinite Search reissue. Very confusing, I know. Either way, this often overlooked album is a high water mark of the early days of jazz fusion and a must-have for those looking to dive a little deeper into Miles' directions.

Lineup:
Miroslav Vitous, bass
Joe Henderson, tenor sax
John McLaughlin, guitar
Herbie Hancock, electric piano
Jack Dejohnette, drums
Joe Chambers, drums

John McLaughlin

Devotion - 1970

Recorded immediately following John McLaughlin's tenure in Miles Davis' band, yet before he formed the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Devotion was the result of a session with Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Miles (drums), Larry Young (organ) and Billy Rich (bass). The recordings featuring Hendrix have never seen an official release, and rightly so -- matched up against Jimi's prowess, McLaughlin's playing is meek, careful and downright out of character -- plus, his guitar was on the fritz throughout. But during the sessions without Jimi, his guitar work is a monument of powerful jazz rock psychedelia that lays the foundation for one of the greatest fusion albums of all time. With his tremendous influence on Davis' Tribute to Jack Johnson still lingering, McLaughlin's focus is on creating tension and dynamics with his cohorts while he plows his way through genres and toys with several themes that he would eventually flesh out to a greater degree with his Mahavishnu Orchestra. An essential document for fans of McLaughlin or the adventurous side of early 70s fusion.

Miles Davis

Get Up With It - 1975

Miles' last studio album before taking a six-year vacation was a double LP summary of all of his far-reatching accomplishments throughout the 70s. And it's no surprise, considering this material was all pulled from sessions ranging from 1970-74. Oddly enough, this was pretty common for Miles at this time, and despite lacking the flow of Bitches Brew or On the Corner, this hodgepode of tracks works very well together in its own bizarre way. Fans of Live/Evil will recognize "Honky Tonk", presented here in a drastically different edit than it appeared on that LP. "Rated X" is a driven by some fierce atonal organ playing from Miles and cut-and paste editing from Teo Macero that was, and remains far ahead of its time."He Loved Him Madly" is 32 minutes of atmospheric organ-driven (Miles again!) spookyness that Eno claims changed his life. Given three guitar players, flute, trumpet, bass, drums, and percussion, its restraint is remarkable. Funky, doped up and undeniably weird, Get Up With It is a bold statement from Miles, who knew upon its release that it would be the last anybody would hear of him for a long time ... possibly ever. It may not stick with you the first time, but keep listening. It will.

Miles Davis

Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West - 1970

Considering the flood of Miles Davis live LPs hitting the market in the early 70s, it's easy to understand why Black Beauty has remained somewhat under the radar. Shortly after the release of Bitches Brew, Miles stripped his live band down to electric bass (Dave Holland), drums (Jack DeJohnette), soprano sax (Steve Grossman), Fender Rhodes (Chick Corea) and percussion (Airto Moreira) and began making music with an intense focus on grooves and textures, while melody basically went out the window. Miles' horn playing is brutally intense, but his tone still retained the warmth and richness of the Bitches Brew sessions -- not yet replaced by the shrill, electric-guitar like tone he would soon adopt on records like Live Evil and On the Corner. But what really stands out on this live album is Corea's incredible Rhodes work, gone completely over the top with wah, ring modulators and tape echo effects, and in several places managing to sound like two pianists at once. One of the wildest albums in the Miles Davis canon and a personal favorite.

Black Beauty: Miles Davis At F...