James Runs Miles’ Voodoo Down, Part 1

One of the things I really like about vacation is the chance to listen to music,  not listen as in playing it in the background while doing other things or sitting in traffic, but listen as in sit in front on the stereo focusing on the music as one might read a book.

Today, the book we started was Miles Davis’ live electric output from the early 70’s. We got the Cellar Door Sessions for Christmas, which means that we have – I think – all of the live material that was released between 1970 and 1975 when Davis went on hiatus.

First up was Live at the Fillmore East (March 7, 1970): It’s About That Time. This two-disc set features Wayne Shorter on sax playing his last gig with Miles, Chick Corea on electric piano, Dave Holland on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums with Airto Moreira on percussion. The material is primarily drawn from Bitches Brew, which had yet to be released and probably had the audience wondering what in the hell had happened to Miles Davis.

The sound is raw and a bit murky. This material was only released a few years ago and probably was recorded without the intention of releasing it. Despite the murkiness of the sound it reveals Miles in transition (of course when was he ever not?) testing new material and making a sharp break with the past. Here his band sounds muscular and enormous and Shorter’s sax playing is as aggressive and intense as ever. The best parts are on disc two: “Bitches Brew” and “It’s About That Time/Willie Nelson.”

Next up comes Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West recorded on April 10, 1970. It features the same lineup as It’s About That Time except that Shorter is gone and has been replaced by Steve Grossman. The sound on these discs is clean and crisp and it’s apparent that the band has gotten very comfortable with the Bitches Brew material.

Highlights include an exceptional rendition of “Miles Runs the Voodoo Down” with a great Grossman solo over Holland’s pulsing bass. The tune ends with a fuzzy keyboard freakout followed by what is probably my favorite version of “Willie Nelson.”

This “Willie Nelson” has a funky feel that leads into a nice call-and-response bit between Miles and Corea on the electric piano. This shifts into Corea playing a simple riff for Miles to solo over until Holland comes in mirroring the riff on bass. Miles exits and Corea takes his turn soloing while Holland continues the original riff that Corea had begun.

After “Willie Nelson,” Miles takes over with a short “I Fall in Love Too Easily” from his Seven Steps to Heaven days. This provides a brief and lovely interlude that acts as a respite from the electric explorations and funky fury of the previous tracks. It doesn’t last long, but it’s a poignant reminder of Miles’ past and a place where the audience certainly had a chance to catch its collective breath.

Next up came At Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East recorded June 17-20, 1970 by the same group that recorded Black Beauty, but with the addition of Keith Jarrett on organ. This album consists of four medleys comprised of selections of tracks recorded over the four night stand.

“Wednesday Miles” was my favorite, comprised of “Directions,” a 53-second “Bitches Brew” that made me wonder what the other fifteen minutes must sound like, “The Mask,” “It’s About that Time,” a muscular stomp-down groove that shifts into a pensive, searching trumpet solo floating above a seething volcanic stew of keyboards and bass before shifting into “Bitches Brew/The Theme.”

“Saturday Miles” has a very futuristic electronic feel to it, almost as if the music with all its bleeps and skronks was made for robots, but then Miles’ trumpet comes in on another “I Fall in Love Too Easily” that segues seamlessly into “Sanctuary” together lending a lonesome human feel, a different version of an imagined future, before spiraling into the pumping chaos of “Bitches Brew.”

At Fillmore more than anything is a sampling of four nights of what must have been amazing music. I hope someday Columbia will release a complete At Fillmore box set as they have done recently with the Cellar Door Sessions recorded in December 1970.

Taken together these CDs give a fascinating glimpse of Miles Davis taking the Bitches Brew material on the road, exploring and expanding on the new sounds before he permanently added guitar and got funky(er).

James Brush

James Brush is a teacher and writer who lives in Austin, TX. He tries to get outside as much as possible.

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