As we celebrate the recent 50th anniversary of Bitches Brew, Miles Davis’ 1969 magnum opus of jazz fusion, we naturally have a great deal to say about the album itself. However, the reason we still talk so much about it today is arguably less about its own musical content and more about the music it inspired. Bitches Brew was one of the most influential recordings of its day, spawning a wealth of imitators.
The most prominent of those imitators, as it turns out, were the musicians who played on the original album. These were legion; Bitches Brew won a Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Recording. Think of it as yet another demonstration of Davis’ shrewdness in selecting his bandmates: He wanted to work with musicians who had their own singular visions to which they could adapt Miles’ music, and vice versa. Below are 10 extraordinary examples, some of which have been neglected over the years. They are included here, along with the better-known children of Bitches Brew, in hopes of fostering the attention they deserve.
Aside from Miles’ own followups, no other albums channel Bitches Brew’s moody experimentalism like Weather Report’s. Small wonder, since the band was co-led by saxophonist Wayne Shorter and keyboardist Joe Zawinul, both major voices on the August 1969 Miles sessions. That said, Weather Report is thoroughly original. Atop the funky rhythms are mysterious, psychedelic, ethereal soundscapes. Shorter’s soprano and Zawinul’s Fender Rhodes bleed into the mix like watercolors, even when both are screaming. Meanwhile, bassist Miroslav Vitous often blunts the edges of the grooves with acoustic upright bass (as on his own “Seventh Arrow”). It’s not all funk, either; the band swings mightily on Shorter’s “Eurydice.” In either case, Weather Report’s secret weapon—especially on side two—is the percussion combination of Airto Moreira and Don Alias, both uncredited and both fellow Bitches Brew alumni.
