BITCHES BREW

After the wonderful quiet atmosphere of the jazzy In A Silent Way, Miles Davis boosted the voltage amongst his troops and created one of the landmark albums of fusion.

Jazz is not really my field of expertise, so I'll leave it to other reviewers to discuss both the relevance and the hype surrounding this album. I can only give testimony of what my ears tell me, and that is: pure bliss, mesmerizing atmospheric jazz music with enough electrical energy to keep a rock fan like myself going for its entire 90 minutes duration.

Most of the pieces are built around a repeated rhythmic standard with a prominent role for both bass and drums. The rhythms are very dynamic and provide for a constant change and motion within the pattern, guaranteeing a continuously motivating groove. Miles Davis' emotional trumpet playing supplies most of the solos, but the remainder of the crew is no less important for the result. The interplay of the trumpet with the keyboards and guitars is simply amazing, as if all instruments are in unceasing conversations, challenging, tempting and answering one another constantly.

One of the main attractions in this music is how the high level of musicianship never becomes an end in itself. This music is very concentrated but also free and open, with musicians that really listen to one another and work towards a common purpose which I can only describe as pure emotion. One of my all-time fusion favourites, right from the first time I heard it.