Bitches Brew
| Bitches Brew | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 30, 1970[1] | |||
| Recorded | August 19–21, 1969 | |||
| Studio | Columbia 52nd Street (New York City) | |||
| Genres | ||||
| Length | 93:57 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Teo Macero | |||
| Miles Davis chronology | ||||
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Bitches Brew is a studio album by the American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was recorded from August 19 to 21, 1969, at Columbia's Studio B in New York City and released on March 30, 1970, by Columbia Records. It marked Davis's continuing experimentation with electric instruments that he had featured on his previous record, the critically acclaimed In a Silent Way (1969). With these instruments, such as the electric piano and guitar, Davis departed from traditional jazz rhythms in favor of loose, rock-influenced arrangements based on improvisation. The final tracks were edited and pieced together by producer Teo Macero.
The album initially received a mixed critical and commercial response, but it gained momentum and became Davis's highest-charting album on the U.S. Billboard 200, peaking at No. 35. In 1971, it won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.[7] In 1976, it became Davis's first album to be certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[8][9]
In subsequent years, Bitches Brew gained recognition as one of jazz's greatest albums and a progenitor of the jazz rock genre, as well as a major influence on rock and '70s crossover musicians.[4] In 1998, Columbia released The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions,[10] a four-disc box set that includes the original album and previously unreleased material. In 2003, the album was certified Platinum by the RIAA, reflecting shipments of one million copies in the United States. In 2025, the album was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry.[11]
Background and recording
[edit]
By 1969, Davis's core working band consisted of Wayne Shorter on soprano saxophone, Dave Holland on bass, Chick Corea on electric piano, and Jack DeJohnette on drums.[12] The group, minus DeJohnette, recorded In a Silent Way (1969), which also featured Joe Zawinul, John McLaughlin, Tony Williams, and Herbie Hancock. The album marked the beginning of Davis's "electric period", incorporating instruments such as the electric piano, guitar, and jazz fusion styles.[12] For his next studio album, Davis wished to explore his electronic and fusion style even further. While touring with his five-piece from the spring to August 1969, he introduced new pieces for his band to play, including early versions of what became "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down", "Sanctuary", and "Spanish Key".[13] At this point in his career Davis was influenced by contemporary rock and funk music, Zawinul's playing with Cannonball Adderley, and the work of English composer Paul Buckmaster.[14]
In August 1969, Davis gathered his band for a rehearsal, one week prior to the booked recording sessions. As well as his five-piece, they were joined by Zawinul, McLaughlin, Larry Young, Lenny White, Don Alias, Juma Santos, and Bennie Maupin.[13] Davis had written simple chord lines, at first for three pianos, which he expanded into a sketch of a larger scale composition. He presented the group with some "musical sketches" and told them they could play anything that came to mind as long as they used his chosen chords.[15] Davis had not arranged each piece because he was unsure of the direction the album was to take; he wanted whatever was produced to come from an improvisational process, "not some prearranged shit."[16]
Davis booked Columbia's Studio B in New York City from August 19–21, 1969.[13] The session on August 19 began at 10 a.m., with the band playing "Bitches Brew" first. Everyone was set up in a half-circle with Davis and Shorter in the middle. Lenny White explained:
It was like an orchestra, and Miles was our conductor. We wore headphones. We had to be able to hear each other. There were no guests at that session. No photos allowed. But there was one guest that nobody talked about, Max Roach. All live recording, no overdubs. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., for three days.[17]
As usual with Davis's recording sessions during this period, tracks were recorded in sections.[13] Davis gave a few instructions: a tempo count, a few chords or a hint of melody, and suggestions as to mood or tone. Davis liked to work this way; he thought it forced musicians to pay close attention to one another, to their own performances, or to Davis's cues, which could change from moment to moment. On the quieter passages of "Bitches Brew", for example, Davis's voice is audible giving instructions to the musicians, snapping his fingers to indicate tempo, telling the musicians to "Keep it tight" in his distinctive voice, or even directing individuals when to solo, such as when he says "John" during the title track.[18] "John McLaughlin" and "Sanctuary" were also recorded during the August 19 session. Towards the end, the group rehearsed "Pharaoh's Dance".[13]
Despite his reputation as a "cool", melodic improviser, much of Davis's playing on this album is aggressive and explosive, often playing fast runs and venturing into the upper register of the trumpet. His closing solo on "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" is particularly noteworthy in this regard. Davis did not perform on the short piece "John McLaughlin".
Electric bassist Harvey Brooks was unusual among the musicians in having virtually no jazz experience, though he had worked extensively in rock and pop.[19]
Album title
[edit]It is not known where the album title came from, and there are various theories about it.[20] Some believe it was a reference to women in Davis's life who were introducing him to cultural changes in the 1960s.[20][21][22] Other explanations[which?] have been given.[20]
Post-production
[edit]Significant editing was made to the recorded music. Short sections were spliced together to create longer pieces, brief fragments were looped or repeated, and various effects were applied to the recordings. "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" is the only track without any editing, presented exactly as it was recorded in the studio.[19] Paul Tingen reports:[23]
Bitches Brew also pioneered the application of the studio as a musical instrument, featuring stacks of edits and studio effects that were an integral part of the music. Miles and his producer, Teo Macero, used the recording studio in radical new ways, especially in the title track and the opening track, "Pharaoh's Dance". There were many special effects, like tape loops, tape delays, reverb chambers and echo effects. Through intensive tape editing, Macero concocted many totally new musical structures that were later imitated by the band in live concerts. Macero, who has a classical education and was most likely inspired by '50s and '60s French musique concrète experiments, used tape editing as a form of arranging and composition. "Pharaoh's Dance" contains 19 edits – its famous stop-start opening is entirely constructed in the studio, using repeat loops of certain sections. Later on in the track there are several micro-edits: for example, a one-second-long fragment that first appears at 8:39 is repeated five times between 8:54 and 8:59. The title track contains 15 edits, again with several short tape loops of, in this case, five seconds (at 3:01, 3:07 and 3:12). Therefore, Bitches Brew not only became a controversial classic of musical innovation, it also became renowned for its pioneering use of studio technology.
Though Bitches Brew was in many ways revolutionary, perhaps its most important innovation was rhythmic. The rhythm section for this recording consists of two bassists (one playing bass guitar, the other double bass), two to three drummers, two to three electric piano players, and a percussionist, all playing at the same time.[24] As Paul Tanner, Maurice Gerow, and David Megill explain, "like rock groups, Davis gives the rhythm section a central role in the ensemble's activities. His use of such a large rhythm section offers the soloists wide but active expanses for their solos."[24]
Tanner, Gerow and Megill further explain that
"the harmonies used in this recording move very slowly and function modally rather than in a more tonal fashion typical of mainstream jazz.... The static harmonies and rhythm section's collective embellishment create a very open arena for improvisation. The musical result flows from basic rock patterns to hard bop textures, and at times, even passages that are more characteristic of free jazz."[24]
The solo voices heard most prominently on this album are the trumpet and the soprano saxophone, respectively of Miles and Wayne Shorter. Notable also is Bennie Maupin's bass clarinet present on five tracks.
The techn