fusionlab: 2004

Fans of Miles' electric period rejoice! At last someone has been bold enough to legally publish a Miles Davis gig from the most controversial period of the trumpeter's distinguished career. Wait, scratch that. Eagle Entertainment has been intelligent rather than bold. A lot of people out here in the jazz groove universe are desperate for more Miles Davis DVD releases from the 1969 to '75 time zone. Sure, there are multi-generation bootlegs in circulation, some of them quite watchable, but there's no substitution for the clarity and quality that the original master tape provides.

I first became aware of the impending release of a DVD supposedly entitled "Miles Davis: Live At The Isle of Wight Festival" over a year ago. I pre-ordered it, the release date came and went, but nothing was released and many of us began worrying that it had been cancelled altogether. Then, out of the blue in November 2004, appeared "Electric Miles: A Different Kind of Blue".

Electric Blue
The disc begins with a brief look at MD's career prior to "going electric". It's no more than a snapshot, but there's some interesting if short footage of "So What" being performed on a TV show in the early Sixties (and it's not the performance featured on "The Cool Jazz Sound" DVD et al). Then it's onto a series of face-to-face interviews with ex-Davis sidemen including Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Dave Liebman, Gary Bartz, Pete Cosey, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Airto Moreira and Mtume. Most of the interviews are quite illuminating, and several of the musicians play a little bit of "retro" music to camera. They sure don't play like that nowadays, more's the pity.

Acoustic jazz puritan Stanley Crouch has a short rant, dismissing all of Miles' work from "Bitches Brew" onwards as "selling out" (is he listening to the same music as the rest of us?), and Joni "I said hello to Miles once" Mitchell's contribution is pointless. On the flip side, guitar wizard Carlos Santana, an old friend of Miles', contributes much intelligent diatribe and explains the link between Miles Davis' music of this period and what Jimi Hendrix was doing.

Another Bitches Brew
Then at last, we're treated to The Isle of Wight performance, which took place on 29th August 1970, with Miles' band taking to the stage at 5pm. This concert was recorded just 11 days after the Tanglewood USA gig which has been circulated in bootleg circles, and features the same personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet), Gary Bartz (saxophone) Keith Jarrett (organ), Chick Corea (Fender Rhodes & ring modulator), Dave Holland (electric bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums) and Airto Moreira (percussion). According to the excellent Miles Ahead web site, the track listing for the Isle of Wight performance is as follows:

1. Directions (7:12)
2. Bitches Brew (10:05)
3. It's About That Time (6:29)
4. Sanctuary (1:01)
5. Spanish Key (8:15)
6. The Theme (1:55)

As was usual for Miles Davis gigs of this period, the concert consists of one long "suite" with seldom a pause for breath. For just over half an hour Miles shows why he earned his reputation for being the best leader in the business. He bobs and weaves like a boxer, tearing into energetic solo's one minute and then slowing down the pace with a riff from "Sanctuary" or "It's About That Time" the next. Yes, this is prime material from the "Bitches Brew" period, with a stellar line-up performing a suite of the best jazz-fusion music you'll hear (before that genre degenerated into a watered-down, unimaginative mess in the mid-Seventies).

Make It Funky
Davis, authoritative and focused, effortlessly dictates the tempo of an incredibly talented young band. Bartz howls and wails on sax like a possessed man. A pained Corea's Fender Rhodes exudes space-age effects while a manic Jarrett ripples and shrugs on the organ. Crazy Airto, who admits to being out of his head during the gig, is having a ball on percussion, while the rhythm section of DeJohnette and Holland is undeniably funky.

Throughout the performance, Miles is the epitome of cool. When he puts the trumpet to his mouth, all 600,000 people stop and listen. He guides the band straight into the next song with a short, sharp coda, mixes up his solo's with bursts of energy and guile, and responds perfectly to the different instruments around him.

Visual quality is mostly excellent throughout. A few minor degradations are visible here and there, but these are only noticeable because the rest of the footage is of such high quality. The action is shot from multiple camera angles, all intelligently chosen. Audio quality is good through my sound system, with a nice bottom end versus Miles' crisp trumpet. This music demands to be played loud!

One minor niggle is that the DVD is dual layer, and the disc "flips over" halfway through the live gig, resulting in a minor pause. Also, I've played the performance over a few times since purchase, and obviously don't want to wade through all the interviews every time. So why is the all-important chapter three screens into the interface? What a wicked burst of music from the concert on the main menu screen though, with a striking image of Miles in his red jumper and sequined jeans.

Tiny gripes aside, this is the best Miles Davis concert to have been officially published on DVD so far and we should count ourselves lucky. Teasingly intertwined with the interviews of ex-Davis sidemen is high quality footage of other MD gigs between 1969 to 1973. Bootleg collectors will instantly recognise some of them. Wouldn't it be marvellous if some more concerts from this electric period were also released officially? Come on DVD publishers, you know we want them!

Call It What It Is
In conclusion, "Electric Miles" is essential not just for any broad-minded fan of "jazz" or its derivative genres of the day, but for anyone who enjoys live, exciting, challenging, incredible music regardless of how it has been pigeonholed. When Miles was asked for the name of the song(s) his band had played at the festival, he is said to have replied "Call It Anything". Okay Miles, we'll call it "Genius".

Footnote: This review was originally submitted to amazon.co.uk but seeing as they didn't publish it, I thought I might as well do it myself. ;)

fusionlab

Thursday, December 30, 2004

DVD REVIEW: Electric Miles - A Different Kind of Blue

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