Bitches Brew
Whatever you call Miles Davis’ music on *Bitches Brew* (billed as “Directions in Music by Miles Davis”), it was not exactly a subtle shift in course: the wild, surreal cover art, the menacing title, the marathon explorations, the prominent doses of psychedelic rock and heavy soul. Drawn to the primal expressiveness of rock and soul, Davis created his own sound of great ferocity and chaos, of quiet beauty and deep grooves, and when he went into the studio for three days in August of 1969 — in the immediate fallout of Woodstock — he was fortunate enough to have a slew of first-class musicians help him execute his vision: his core band of Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette, augmented by the likes of John McLaughlin, Bennie Maupin, Joe Zawinul, and Larry Young. The two side-length tracks, “Pharaoh’s Dance” and “Bitches Brew,” are winding jams with shifting moods and tempos; the many musicians dance gingerly around each other at times, then stomp and flail with abandon. “Spanish Key” offers intense, impenetrable funky rhythms and showcases McLaughlin’s rough-edged guitar and some rather aggressive trumpet from the leader. “Miles Runs Down the Voodoo” is a filthy, snaking, late-night R&B vamp while “Sanctuary” mixes introspective passages with a few dense bursts of activity.
For the first time since 1992,Rolling Stone'sdefinitive classic returns to the scene, completely updated and revised to include the past decade's artists and sounds. When it comes to sorting the truly great from the merely mediocre, the enduring from the fleeting,The New Rolling Stone Album Guideprovides music buffs and amateurs alike with authoritative guidance from the best voices in the field. Filled with insightful commentary, it not only reviews the most influential albums of all time, but also features biographical overviews of key artists' careers, giving readers a look at the personalities behind the music.This fourth edition contains an impressive -- 70 percent -- amount of new material. Readers will find fresh updates to entries on established artists, hundreds of brand-new entries on the people and recordings that epitomize the '90s and the sounds of the 21st century -- from Beck to OutKast to the White Stripes and beyond -- along with a new introduction detailing changes in the music industry.Celebrating the diversity of popular music and its constant metamorphoses, with thousands of entries and reviews on every sound from blues to techno,The New Rolling Stone Album Guideis the only resource music lovers need to read.
Thought by many to be among the most revolutionary albums in jazz history, Miles Davis' Bitches Brew solidified the genre known as jazz-rock fusion.