Miles' "On the Corner"

said this before but the complete OTC sessions is just some of the most incredible music ive ever heard

― marcos, Thursday, September 17, 2015 6:25 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Listening to the complete Bitches Brew sessions kind of made me wonder if Teo Macero is overrated.

How so?

The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions is a monumentally mistitled set. It doesn't include the unedited parts that make up the finished pieces, like the IASW box does. Going by the material on the Bitches Brew box, there's no way to know exactly what Macero did or didn't do with what he was given, because we never hear what he was given.

The IASW set, on the other hand, includes the full takes of the pieces that were later edited/spliced/assembled for the LP; hearing those after the unedited takes, you can really see how masterful Macero's editing is.

yea i agree about the ISAW sessions, it is pretty amazing how macero distilled all that music into one seamless, beautiful LP

OTC on the other hand, hearing this music in its fullest on the complete sessions, i really don't think the edited LP is in any way an improvement. tbh now i feel like i am missing out when i play the regular LP., i don't really want to hear it anymore. the music is more powerful imo in its unedited state

/The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions/ is a monumentally mistitled set.

Totally agree, but I'm not sure how that leads one to wonder whether Macero may be overrated.

Which isn't to say he is or isn't. Even with all that has been written on this era, I still think his legacy is less of a "classic or dud" variety and more that he was the guy who somewhat introduced post-production in jazz and used it to add musique concrete elements and Third Stream compositional structure to the, er, brew.

FWIW, re. BB in particular, I'm assuming those unedited tapes simply don't exist.

Totally agree, but I'm not sure how that leads one to wonder whether Macero may be overrated.

Only because we don't have anything to compare the final/edited/spliced BB to in order to gauge exactly what he did/how he did it (which may strengthen or weaken one's view of whether or not he's overrated).

i think it'd be a mistake to label macero the "auteur" of the miles electric years, but i wouldn't downplay his contribution either. like, you hear that 73 set that was released on the latest miles bootleg series and you hear a band that is fully in control of a pretty singular set of dynamics. but some of those dynamics might just be derived in part from macero's more radical editing techniques. not sure if that makes sense... even to me!

Only because we don't have anything to compare the final/edited/spliced BB to in order to gauge exactly what he did/how he did it (which may strengthen or weaken one's view of whether or not he's overrated).

Well, we may not have much to compare it to...but thanks to the likes of Bob Belden and Enrico Palazzo (or whatever that guys name is), we do know where the edits are in tracks like "Pharaoh's Dance." Unlike the brutal jump-cut edits on, say, "Sivad" on Live-Evil or At Fillmore, Macero's editing on Bitches Brew is actually quite subtle – repeating little two-bar passages here and there. There's a whole run-down of this in the box set.

Do we know how Macero's edited version compares to the unedited track? No. But you don't have to hear the original tapes to know that the shape of the track—and the tension that's built—owes at least something to Macero's hand. And, in my view, the way it builds to a climax is one of my favorite things about "Pharaoh's Dance."

I'd also add: Macero may not have batted 1.000 with Miles but his panning and effects work on tracks like "Go Ahead John" is underrated.

michael henderson otm

yup

On the money and in the pocket

Henderson is such a monster, he doesn't get a enough credit.

I actually just listened to this box set for the first time in a while, I think I got a little burnt out of OTC for awhile, god it just sounded amazing all over again...love the Stockhausen Street Funk era, OTC, Get Up, Big Fun, et al...

Also, since I couldn't find a better place to put this the other day:

Sony, please give me a 74-75 live box set, please!

OTC was also weirdly kind of a hit with my 18 month-old

kids definitely respond to a good beat!
and yeah, a 74-75 live set would be welcome ...

I've been listening to scads of bootlegs on Youtube & Agharta & Pangea & Dark Magusbut IT ISN'T ENOUGH.

Seriously, I want to listen to every single scrap of sound this band ever made.

agreed

I am familiar with this impulse, it comes over me a couple times a year

this one is an early 74 fave:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZNIpVT7YvQ

Oh pro-tip! I don't think I've listened to that yet, I've mostly been rolling through '75. God this band was so good!

Also:
kids definitely respond to a good beat!
― tylerw, Tuesday, June 7, 2016 10:35 AM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

She did this weird side-to-side shuffle/shimmy thing the second the record came on

OTC was also weirdly kind of a hit with my 18 month-old

OTC was also weirdly kind of a hit with my 18 month-old

Haven't played her OTC but was cranking Live Evil the other day and when Miles steps in on What I Say my two-year old said, "Trumpet!"

Listened to this yesterday for the I don't know how manyth time, but triple digits for sure. Still hearing sounds for the first time.

when Miles steps in on What I Say my two-year old said, "Trumpet!"

I swear I heard my child "sing along",make a high pitched squeal, along with OTC. Or least, that's what I want to believe.

I listened to the link tyler posted above last night and it is fucking awesome

yeah i love that recording. not sure how big the shaboo inn was, but it's always crazy to imagine that band playing little clubs.

The crowd sounds kind of rowdy, hooting & hollering

Haha thank you internet

Evidence for the date of this recording is confused. The Davis Septet was originally booked for two nights at the Shaboo Inn: January 24-25 (Thursday-Friday). The former owner of the Shaboo recalls that they didn't play on Thursday because Davis's hairdresser wasn't there

lol

classic

checkin out this record today -- has a bunch of the agharta band on it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MyBxMcD9-Ns

https://img.discogs.com/BwOYAV2T2UiGx4Ida33V78PMfj0=/fit-in/599x598/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-892202-1169988877.jpeg.jpg

ooh! how has this album never been mentioned before

sweet

what year is that?

1977
https://www.discogs.com/Mtume-Rebirth-Cycle/release/892202
doesn't appear to have ever been reissued?

sounds pretty good, more spiritual jazz action than agharta

this is dope thanks tyler

more spiritual jazz action

idk about this, would need to see evidence of number of spiritual jazz hats to confirm

there are pyramids on the cover that should qualify it

http://coldfrontmag.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/01/mtumepic.jpg
spiritual jazz headband?

Ooh a head band is good cuz it leaves the Spirit Topper (scalp) uncovered, reduces interference.

Seriously though that line up is something else!

Like these folks have all played on some of the best jazz records ever, this is a literally a supergroup! I have never even heard of this record

me neither! here's some info

With credits that read like a who's who of early 1970s jazz, Mtume, then with Miles Davis, produced his third solo album, including one cut with the Miles Davis band sans Miles. This album is full of spirituality, Africanisms, and real jazz. "Umoja" even includes invocations to Obatala, Yemaya, and the other deities of the Yoruba religion/Santeria. Fascinatingly, Mtume and Lucas went on to produce funk, and then disco, and then Madonna, all with a trademark conga plus electric guitar sound. There, I always wanted to include Madonna in this website. (Ian Scott Horst)

Rebirth Cycle is an amazing lineup (see Ian's discog listing at for details) whose African roots are clearly breaking the surface. "Sais" is a sidelong cut initiated by a bass clarinet ostinato and textured with dense percussion and multiple voices (Jean Carn, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Tawatha Agee, damn!) and some absolutely penetrating narration. Also included is "Yebo", an electric cut with the Miles '74 players (Cosey, Foster and Henderson) that's more soul-jazz than what the players might suggest, and this weirdo percussion piece called "Body Sounds". [DW - freeform.org]

Rebirth Cycle, though released in 1977, was actually made in 1974, and the album’s personnel list reads like a veritable who’s-who of the musicians who where working in the more independent jazz scene of the early seventies. Working on this album, you had Dee Dee Bridgewater and Jean Carne on vocals. Strata East players like Cecil McBee and Buster Williams on bass, Stanley Cowell on piano and Jimmy Heath on reeds. This album is also the first introduction to the mighty voice of Tawatha Agee who would remain the co vocalist with the Mtume band right through to the mid eighties.

Musically, Rebirth Cycle is a fusion of afro-centric deep jazz and psychedelic spacey funk. The main piece on here, and the album’s high point, is the side long “Sais” (sigh-us). This 20 plus minute tune starts with the spoken introduction by Senegalese poet Mustapha, explaining the story of “Mystery System of Sais, the Egyptian school of higher learning from which Greek and Western philosophy was developed”. Once the introduction is over one of the most magical and hypnotic musical 20 minutes you could sit through begins. From the slow and haunting bass clarinet solo through crashing waves of vocal chaos plus one almighty guitar solo by Reggie Lucas, all backed by a solid groove that is cut so deep it would be impossible to climb out of, even if you wanted to. There are moments in this piece where the cacophony is such that it feels like you’re consumed in a hypnotic aural cloud, and you find yourself not wanting to come out of it, or at least for the tune not to come to an end. Then the chaos ebbs away, the bass clarinet solo slowly unearths itself from the onslaught of the other instruments and the poetry returns. You then find yourself coming to from this 20 minute musical roller coaster ride, and you cannot help but feel total exhilaration. On Side two of this album the tracks are shorter in length and are much more afro-centric funk in style. The vocal work on this side of the album is truly sublime, whether it is “Yebo” the Oneness Of Juju style groover with magical vocals by Tawatha Agee, the haunting beauty of Jean Carn’s performance on Cabral, or the traditional African nasal style on the closing track “Umoja”. Rebirth Cycle does not contain a weak moment anywhere on the entire recording, and is really worth seeking out a copy.

Damn I can't wait to listen this

just listened to the whole thing it is a great record

Yes but are they all running thru a wah wah pedal?

I dug it but agree it's much airier and loose than OTC/Agharta band

yea definitely, more afro-centric spiritual jazz & less hard otherworldy funk

one of those reviews up there says it was recorded in 74 (but not released til 77), which makes sense, I think.

Holy damn what a surprise relic!

Listening now -- pretty different from the Mtume stuff I'd heard (which is like smooth jazz-funk/boogie)