Jazz-Rock

Electric Miles (Part Three)

 ‘Bitches Brew’ (1970)

 ‘In A Silent Way’ was released in September 1969 and received a very positive critic in the jazz field as well as in the rock field. After the ‘Silent Way’ sessions of February ’69, Miles had already planned ahead and in august 1969 (19^th to 21th) he went back to the studio for new sessions, that would produce ‘Bitches Brew’ and a real chock in the musical world. 

In A Silent Way’ was a revolution, even so a silent one, and Miles wanted to go further in that direction. The august sessions would be less revolutionary in a certain way, but on the other hand Miles would push the limits started in February to an extreme. The basic principal stayed the same : invite musicians, let the tapes roll, try to find new paths, try out new combinations  with the perspective to assemble the recorded material afterwards and form a coherent ensemble out of the puzzle.

The first change concerns the number of musicians, after having played for a long time with a quintet, Miles used an octet  for the ’Silent Way’  sessions and  invited now thirteen musicians ,who didn’t play all at the same time, but on  most  tracks there are at least 10 musicians playing. [Miles : trumpet, Wayne Shorter : Soprano sax, Bernie Maupin : bass clarinet, Joe Zawinul : e-piano, Chick Corea: e-piano, Herbie Hancock : e-piano (all three played the  ‘Fender Rhodes’) John Mc Laughlin : Guitar, Dave Holland : Bass,  Harvey Brooks : e-bass, Lenny White; drums, Jack De Johnette : drums, Don Alias: percussion & drums, Billy Cobham: drums, Jumma Santos : percussion, Airto Moreira : percussion.]

Now the first thing that catches the eye is the large amount of drummers/percussion players. On all tracks play two drummers and on several tracks two drummers and two percussion players at the same time. Second novelty in terms of orchestration : the bass clarinet (played by Bernie Maupin) especially in opposition to Wayne playing the high-pitched soprano-sax and Miles trumpet. ‘Silent Way’ was an eerie record,(recorded in winter) : Wayne played soprano-sax and Tony Williams,(who left after the February sessions) played mainly on the cymbals or excecuted his trademark rim-shots, putting the overall sound-spectrum in the higher frequencies. Now on ‘Bitches Brew’, recorded on three hot summer days, the sound had come back to earth, to the jungle, an hommage to Duke Ellington’s growling sound. The sound was more grounded : the bass was often doubled, the drummers played a heavy, funkier rhythm (Miles tried to approach the sound of Hendrix drummer Buddy Miles) and the use of bass clarinet. 

As for ‘Silent Way’ the main musical material for these sessions consisted of short riffs or melodic segments (‘lead’-riffs often played by Miles on the trumpet serving as a guideline for the band, (there are only two ‘compositions’ on the record : “Sanctuary”  by Wayne Shorter [ a Shorter composition that was already in the Quintet live repertory] and “Pharao’s Dance” by Joe Zawinul). Miles would use the concept of lead -riffs (and assorted hand movements in live situations) to direct the band and give signs for tempo changes. During the sessions, Miles spend a lot of time with producer Teo Macero in the control room giving indications to the musicians and joined the band when the groove was already on the way.

Another change concerns the post production :  Miles and Teo Macero spend nearly nine months on the post production.(Bitches Brew was only released in April of 1970) choosing the interesting material and editing it heavily. The most famous example is “Pharao’s Dance “ (20:05) which contained nineteen edits , including the use of tape loops, reverb & echo chambers, a real masterpiece of studio technique and nevertheless not clinic at all.

Contrary to ‘Silent Way’ which had a very unique and dense atmosphere ‘Bitches Brew’ contains different atmospheres and elements announced by the beautiful Mati Klarwein cover : music full of earth, air, fire & water. “Pharaos Dance” and the title track “Bitches Brew” are the most ‘experimental tracks (especially in terms of editing), the tension on these both tracks is gradually mounting with a complexe percussion carpet underneath while the other instruments weave an melodic pattern on top. The overall rhythm on the record had become heavier, a binary heavy funk that, would announce the ‘Jack Johnson’ sessions. Miles is now practically the only soloist on top of a rhythmic and melodic patchwork, with a special mention for Bernie Maupin’s bass-clarinet playing.”Sanctuary”  is the swan song of Wayne Shorter (who would leave the band at the end of the year) a beautiful melody and Miles nostalgic goodbye to the quintet. “John Mc Laughlin” was an edit of the title track “Bitches Brew” and features the guitarist. “Spanish key”  a spanish flavored piece reminding “Flamenco Sketches” ( ‘Kind Of Blue’) and “Miles Runs the Voodo Down” , the most linear track with an on-going funky rhythm, that would announce the soul-funk material that Miles would elaborate soon.

When ‘Bitches Brew’ was released in April 1970, it would become one of Miles best-selling records and divided the Jazz world into two camps not unlike Bob Dylan dividing the Folk scene by taking up the electric guitar some years earlier.

(à suivre)