Album Reissue Note: Miles Davis: Bitches Brew [Legacy Edition]

You know the Miles in this blog's name honors the legendary Miles Davis. And if you can only name one Davis album, this one originally released in 1970 is probably it, marking his first gold record --  not as incredible as it seems even for a such a giant who had been around for decades when you consider the second tier public support jazz has always suffered. As excellent and famous as Bitches Brew is, it should never be mistaken for the work that is most representative of Miles' lifetime output. Indeed, that would be a difficult choice to make because he innovated and became immediately dominant in so many jazz idioms: bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal, and fusion -- with forays into 3rd stream and even hip hop at the very end.

Bitches Brew, of course, is possibly the greatest of fusion albums. Personally I prefer his earlier modal, cool, and bop forms to fusion, and when it comes to fusion I prefer his earlier In A Silent Way over Bitches Brew, but it cannot be denied that Bitches Brew showed Miles Davis would never stop pioneering musical frontiers. It is so very, very 1970, and like all his great works, also beyond temporal limitations. Unlike for John Coltrane (whose estate will bankrupt me if they ever release all the vaulted material), I'm not a Miles Davis completist, so I'm not sure yet the snips of new outtakes or live demonstrations or tinkering with the production on this reissue will compel me to buy it. But I am celebrating the attention brought to this all time classic by tripping to my previously release remastered Bitches Brew. In one iteration or another it is an essential to any music collection.

Pitchfork: Album Reviews: Miles Davis: Bitches Brew [Legacy Edition] 9.5/10.0 (Best Reissue designation)