Bitches Brew (Legacy Edition)

This three disc package contains the album on two CDs (including two alternate takes and four single edits) and the Copenhagen DVD (previously unreleased; recorded live at the Tivoli Konsertsal in Copenhagen, Denmark on 11/4/69), plus a twenty-four page color booklet with Greg Tate's original essay, producers' notes by the set's co-producers Michael Cuscuna and Richard Seidel, along with dozens of photographs and rare record label memos!

Recorded at the end of a tumultuous decade (August 1969), Bitches Brew reflected the chaos and beauty of a society stretched and stressed to its breaking point. This genre-bending, barrier-smashing double LP of boldly new music with dense textures and lengthy performances broke every rule of commerciality. This fortieth anniversary edition is a tribute to both the man who changed the course of jazz ("four or five times," as he himself once quipped), and the album that virtually single-handedly brought jazz into the commercial rock era. Originally released in April of 1970, Bitches Brew was informed by and reflective of the music that Miles heard being produced in the late-'60s by Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, James Brown, Santana, Marvin Gaye and others, as well as the Beatles' post-production editing pyrotechnics. The original double LP's six tracks - "Bitches Brew," "John McLaughlin," "Sanctuary," "Miles Runs the VooDoo Down," "Pharaoh's Dance," and "Spanish Key" - as formulated in the studio by Miles and his long-time producer Teo Macero, presented a seismic breakthrough in jazz/rock/funk/R&B. Session personnel included Miles on trumpet, Wayne Shorter (soprano saxophone), Bennie Maupin (bass clarinet), Joe Zawinul (electric piano), Chick Corea (electric piano), John McLaughlin (guitar), Dave Holland (acoustic bass), Harvey Brooks (electric bass), Lenny White (drums), Jack DeJohnette (drums), Don Alias (congas), and Jumma Santos (aka Jim Riley - shaker). This reissue presents the music recorded at the principal Bitches Brew August 1969 recording sessions as well as live performances of some of the same music recorded later, showing further development of the material in the hands of master improvisers - a story that can be told only with the passage of time in live performance. Bonus material begins with two newly discovered alternates of "Spanish Key" and "John McLaughlin," issued here for the first time. Also included are the rare original singles with edited performances of "Miles Runs The VooDoo Down" and "Spanish Key," plus edits of two pieces recorded three months later, illustrating the evolution of Miles' sound in just three short months. These edited 45 RPM singles, bound no doubt for radio stations and jukeboxes, were the only nod to traditional marketing that this album received, yet set in motion the discovery of music so prophetic that its eternal impact is still felt today.