Today marks the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis’ groundbreaking jazz opus, Bitches Brew, and there’s plenty of different ways to celebrate.
To start, check out the latest season of our podcast The Opus, which takes a deep, thoughtful sip of the influential jazz album. Episode one finds host Andy Bothwell speaking with Deantoni Parks (The Mars Volta/Technoself); Daedelus (Brainfeeder/Berklee College of Music); Loren Schoenberg (Julliard/National Museum Of Jazz); and writer George Grella about the importance of challenging music. Episode two takes a deep into Davis’ stellar supporting cast and band with help from Daedelus; Grella; musician and professor Mark Gould (Julliard/New York Trumpet Ensemble); bassist and composer Ben Williams (Kamasi Washington/Pat Metheny); Sound on Sound columnist and author of Miles Beyond: Electric Explorations of Miles Davis 1967-1991 Paul Tingen. Listen in below, and stay tuned for episode three in the near future.
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Meanwhile, Legacy Recordings has unlocked a full live performance of Davis’ “lost quintet” performing in Copenhagen, Denmark soon after the recording of Bitches Brew. Watch the November 1969 performance, featuring Davis with Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette, below.
If all that weren’t enough, Legacy has released a new reissue of Bitches Brew on 2xLP gatefold vinyl as well The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions. A new documentary, Miles Davis: Birth of Cool, is also currently streaming on Netflix and will receive a Blu-ray and DVD release on April 10th. Watch a clip for the doc below.
50th Anniversary of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew Celebrated with Podcast, Unreleased Live Performance
Alex Young
