miles davis: bitches brew live in copenhagen 1969

when miles davis was born on may 26, 1926, the world could not have known it at the time, but he would become one of the most pivotal figures in the world of music and in turn, in all the worlds that co-mingle with music in any form. guiding jazz through bebop, cool, modal and rock jazz, miles placed his trademark chops inside and through almost fifty years of music.
in the course of those fifty years, miles created many pivotal recordings but perhaps the most influential was bitches brew. recorded over the course of three days (august 19 - 21, 1969), the album sold over half a million copies despite being jampacked with “difficult” music, and being spread over two discs. to bring this music to life, miles led ensembles of up to 13 musicians through numerous song sketches, atonal experiments and dense polyrhythmic vamps that forced them to listen closely to one another and allow the music to take on a life of its own. later producer teo macero would cut and paste the apparently disconnected elements of these sessions into the masterwork that it is.

as a testament to its groundbreaking features, it is still cause for discussion to this day whether bitches brew is actually jazz or not. to my way of thinking, who really cares? music so needs to be heard that it speaks through whoever or whatever is available, and it is this quality of miles that distinguishes him from many other musicians: that he was available to music.

as a french magazine is reported to have written about him in 1960 “the behavior of miles davis is not that of an ordinary star. it is that of a man who has decided to live without hypocrisy.”

the following concert took place in copenhagen in 1969. as always, miles surrounded himself with a stellar supporting cast including wayne shorter on sax, jack johnette on drums, chick corea on keyboards and dave holland on bass.

part one:


part two:

part three:

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part five:

part six: