Recorded at the end of a tumultuous decade (August 1969), BITCHES BREW reflected the chaos and beauty of a society stretched and stressed to its breaking point. This genre-bending, barrier-smashing double LP of boldly new music with dense textures and lengthy performances broke every rule of commerciality.

These 40th ANNIVERSARY EDITIONS are a tribute to both the man who changed the course of jazz (“four or five times,” as he himself once quipped), and the album that virtually single-handedly brought jazz into the commercial rock era, becoming no.94 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.

Originally released in April 1970, BITCHES BREW was informed by the music that Miles heard being produced in the era by Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, James Brown, Santana and Marvin Gaye, as well as the Beatles’ editing pyrotechnics.

The original double-LP’s six tracks –“Bitches Brew,” “John McLaughlin,” “Sanctuary,” “Miles Runs the VooDoo Down”, “Pharaoh’s Dance,” and “Spanish Key” – as formulated in the studio by Miles and his long-time producer Teo Macero, presented a seismic breakthrough in jazz/rock funk/R&B.

Session personnel included Miles on trumpet, Wayne Shorter (soprano saxophone), Bennie Maupin (bass clarinet), Joe Zawinul (electric piano), Chick Corea (electric piano), John McLaughlin (guitar), Dave Holland (acoustic bass), Harvey Brooks (electric bass), Lenny White (drums), Jack DeJohnette (drums), Don Alias (congas), and Jumma Santos (aka Jim Riley – shaker).

Both Anniversary Editions present the music recorded at the principal BITCHES BREW August 1969 recording sessions as well as LIVE PERFORMANCES of some of the same music recorded later, showing further development of the material in the hands of master improvisers.

BONUS MATERIAL begins with two newly discovered alternates of “Spanish Key” and “John McLaughlin,” issued here for the first time. Also included are the rare original singles with edited performances of “Miles Runs The Voodoo Down” and “Spanish Key,” plus edits of two pieces recorded three months later, illustrating the evolution of Miles’ sound in just three short months. These edited 45-rpm singles, bound no doubt for radio stations and jukeboxes, were the only nod to traditional marketing that this album received, yet set in motion the discovery of music so prophetic that its eternal impact is still felt today.

THE BOX
SUPER-DELUXE 40th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTOR’S EDITION 12” x 12” SLIPCASE BOX SET PACKAGE CONTAINS:

• Two CDs with original 94-plus minutes of music plus SIX BONUS TRACKS

• A third CD of a previously unissued performance at Tanglewood, August 1970, with Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, Airto Moreira and Gary Bartz

• DVD of a previously unissued performance in Copenhagen, November 1969, with Wayne Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette

• Audiophile 180-gram vinyl double-LP gatefold replication of original album

• 52-PAGE COLOR 12×12 BOOK with 5,000-word essay by journalist-authorproducer-musician Greg Tate; Producers’ notes by Michael Cuscuna and Richard Seidel (the box’s Co-Producers); and Lenny White interview by author Ashley Kahn. The book features Mati Klarwein’s painting Zonked (a psychedelic portrait of Miles Davis’ wife, Betty, which also encodes a profile of Miles) on its cover, plus dozens of rare, unpublished photographs and record label memos

• Memorabilia envelope containing a reproduction of the Davis Rolling Stone cover story from December 1969, previously unseen correspondence from Teo Macero’s archives, reproductions of three Fillmore West concert tickets from April 1970, high quality photograph prints, and a foldout poster of Miles Davis