IT'S ABOUT THAT TIME: LIVE AT THE FILLMORE EAST, MARCH 7, 1970

When it comes to posthumous live releases by Zappa, Davis and SOFT MACHINE it's difficult to know what to get and what to pass on because the releases just keep on coming. This particular live album features Miles Davis and his band in unfamiliar territory as they were playing for the first time at a Rock festival which took place at the Fillmore East in March of 1970. This was also the first time that a Ring Modulator was used by Davis and his band in a concert. This gave the piano a powerful sound and certainly Chick Corea really stands out here. Check out the lineup with Miles Davis on trumpet, Chick Corea on electric piano, Wayne Shorter on sax, Dave Holland on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums and Airto Moreira on percussion. One of the attractions of this particular concert recording is that this quintet never made a studio album together and this lineup is often called the "Lost Quintet". Add to that the fact that only bootlegs of this lineup playing live were only previously available makes this a must have. This would be the last of Miles' three great quintets. Wayne Shorter would soon leave after this to join his buddy and former Miles Davis bandmate Joe Zawinal to form WEATHER REPORT. Also I should note that there's a lot of material here is from "Bitches Brew" which was just a month away from being released upon the population at large.

This is a two disc affair with each disc representing one of the two sets they played that day. Love how "Directions" opens with the crowd cheering as this runaway train comes plowing through, slowly building in speed. There's so much going on here. I can only imagine what the people in the audience must have thought. This was not normal Jazz by any stretch of the imagination, and these guys were kicking ass. "Spanish Key" continues the onslaught, man this gets down-right insane. Amazing ! "Masqualero" continues with everyone playing like they are on fire. Just to pick out one guy and to focus on him is so intense no matter who you choose. The first set ends with "It's About That Time/The Theme" which actually opens quietly which is maybe why the crowd cheers at the start(haha). This is laid back and intricate as sounds come and go. It doesn't stay this way for long though.

Disc two opens with some feedback and deep sounds and this version of "Directions" is much less "out there" than on the first set but it's building in intensity. Man I love this, in fact disc two is my favourite of the two. "Miles Runs The Voodoo Down" almost seems normal at first as the crowd can be heard cheering. Nice bass work 2 1/2 minutes in. "Bitches Brew" is a slow moving beast to say the least. Again i'm just so impressed with all that's going on here. DeJohnette is all over this but then they all seem to be in what sounds like organized chaos. "Spanish Key" also like "Directions" doesn't seem as "out there" as the version on the first set. I love when this gets going. "It's About That Time/Willie Nelson" opens rather pleasantly with some actual space to breathe. It starts to pickup before 2 minutes and getting fuller as well. This is great !

Easily 4 stars and a must for Miles Davis fans out there. I'm going to get some mileage out of this one.