Dateline: April 10, 1970. Setting: The storied Fillmore West in San Francisco, CA. Context: Miles Davis, three days removed from his first session forJack Johnsonand, with newly recruited soprano saxophonist Steve Grossman in tow, opening shows for countercultural heroes the Grateful Dead on the latters home turf. Result: The initial rumblings of a thrilling era in which Davis and his cohorts would again upend jazz and popular conceptions of the genre with music steeped in groove, improvisation, and hang-on-for-your-life adventurousness. All captured onBlack Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West. Given Davis was only a few months away from releasing the pioneering double albumBitches Brew, it shouldnt come as a surprise that much of the fare here adheres to similar explorative approaches. Turbulent rhythms, provocative trumpet passages, and rich, saturated tonal colors that seemingly splash against a blank canvas take precedence over any traditional attempts at organization and melody. Davis and Co. intentionally play everything on a line with the bandleader signaling changes with his horn via coded phrases. The group speaks a common language with each member having gone to achieve iconic status for their career contributions and technical prowess.

In the company of Grossman, Chick Corea (piano), Dave Holland (bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums), and Airto Moreira (percussion), Davis constructs themes around Directions, Miles Runs the Voodoo Down, Its About That Time, the title track toBitches Brew, and more from his then most-recent studio works and the in-progressJack Johnson. His farewell to the popular standards that for nearly two decades remained a part of his repertoire arrive via a brief dalliance with I Fall in Love Too Easily, a shortened albeit aggressive Masqualero, and the Theme finale of Spanish Key. Initially,Black Beautylacked specific track listings due to Davis increasing frustration with listeners over-analyzing his music.

In retrospect, its difficult to blame anyone for wanting to view whats on display here with the aural equivalent of a magnifying glass. Leaning in rock directions, yet maintaining an ear for spaciousness and solos,Black Beautysurvives as a snapshot of a thrilling moment amid a transitory period in which evolution came fast and furious. Just two months later, Davis would add another instrumentalist to the lineup in the form of organist Keith Jarrett, and the perpetually restless visionary would blast off to a more atmospheric and arguably more chaotic universe.Consider, then, this live document a bridge to that galaxy and a breathtaking example of the possibilities of jazz itself. via Label

Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Numbered, Reissue, Remastered, Special Edition, Stereo, 180g
Reissued: 2025 / Original Release: 1973
Genre: Jazz
Style: Fusion

File under: Audiophile Jazz