VOODOOCHILD!
How to buy the electric Miles Davis.
By John Robinson
Ina different way: Miles at the 1969 Newport Jazz Festival, Rhode Island
TOM COPI/MICHAELOCHSARCHIVES/GETTYIMAGES
IN A SILENT WAY
(1969)
Hard to believe now, listening to this twinkling and insistently groovy suite, that it was once thought so controversial to jazz listeners. A comparable paradigm shift to that made by Sketches Of Spain, perhaps, here key players including John McLaughlin, Joe Zawinul and Chick Corea begin to map an expansive new space.
BITCHES BREW
(1970)
Keep it tight! A fuller continuation of Miles’ new approach. Joined by many of his Silent Way band plus additional percussionists, the music is complex and evolving (producer Teo Macero provides gamechanging edits), but the mood also chimes with market-dominant, carpet-level psychedelic rock. Hear also Miles’ essential version of David Crosby’s “Guinnevere”, released on the Complete Bitches Brew Sessions.