I believe it was James Mtume, the percussionist for Miles Davis in the seventies, who told this next story. On his first concert with Miles, as soon as the band started paying the first notes, the audience started booing them. Mtume, than a young musician, felt insecure and started looking towards the other musicians for a reaction. Miles noticed him, came up to the percussion set and whispered in his ear: “There are two vibes - one on stage and one in the audience. Play through it!”. At the end of the concert there was a 15 minutes standing ovation. The great Miles Davis managed to turn around the whole situation and it was one of the most important lessons for Mtume until then. But why was the audience booing them?
At the end of the sixties and throughout the seventies, Miles Davis (as many times before) changed his style, moving towards rock and funk music. If we want to talk about groundbreaking music, “Bitches Brew” (1970) for example is one of the few records that can hold this attribute with great pride. But, like all new and unconventional things, it was rejected by the majority of the jazz audiences and critics upon its release (and the jazz police is always ‘round the corner). He was labeled a “traitor of jazz”, a “sell-out”, especially because he was opening for rock bands and playing at pop festivals at that time. The debate over Miles’ music in the 70’s went on for years and decades and it still remains an open question among jazz puritans. But generally, those albums now are considered classics and a major influence of the music to come, especially “Bitches Brew”. It may have been criticized by the “jazz-men”, but it brought this music to a wider audience, especially to the rocker’s side of the music industry.
It is music with an incredible interplay between the musicians (John McLaughlin, Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette, to name just few of the legends that play on this material), considering that there was no written chords, arrangements or melodies – only the pure satisfaction of improvising over a particular mood and ambiance. Bitches Brew is a cornerstone of modern music and arouses the senses in ways hardly imaginable even nowadays.
What I have for you today is the performance Miles Davis had on the legendary Isle of Wight festival in 1970. It is featured on the”Bitches Brew Live” from 2011 and is often billed as “Call it anything”, which was Miles’ answer when asked about the title of the piece. The lineup is incredible - Jack DeJohnette on drums, Dave Holland on electric bass, Airto Moreira on percussion, Gary Bartz on saxophone, both Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea on keyboards and Miles with his trumpet. It is a one piece concert, with lots of energy, interpay and fun - they were all on LSD as Moreira explains in the documentary about Miles and the Isle of Wight. Of course, you won’t be needing a pill to listen to this performance, but you’ll need an open mind, that’s for sure. Make yourself comfortable, put down the lights and go boldly where a lot of people have gone before!
