Live Evil - Miles Davis

Jan

23

Live Evil - Miles Davis

≡ Category: 1970s, Avant-Guarde, Essential, Fusion, Jazz Funk, Jazz Rock, Post Bop, Reviews |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING

Rating:

First off, I should point out that the title of this Miles Davis release is a little misleading. Half of the tunes on Live Evil (released on the Columbia label) were recorded in the studio. The other half were indeed recorded live at The Cellar Door in Washington, D.C. I suspect that Miles (or maybe it was producer Teo Macero’s decision) included the studio tracks in order to give the ear a break from the unrelenting intensity of the live material.

The date starts out with Sivad, a number from the live band. Miles had recently hired bassist Michael Henderson, who had been playing with Aretha Franklin, in order to take his band in a more funk oriented direction. He was down to only one keyboardist, Keith Jarrett (Chick Corea had recently left the band), and Gary Bartz had the saxophone chair. During the one-week gig at the Cellar Door, guitarist John McLaughlin sat in with the band one night. Miles Davis wisely chose tunes from that set for Live Evil.

Much like he would in later bands, bassist Michael Henderson lays down a muscular and basic funk riff, and drummer Jack Dejohnnette bashes aways relentlessly, playing rapid fills that nonetheless reinforce the groove. Miles is in excellent voice here, playing the sort of lines that would have been at home in his live appearances with the second great quintet. Halfway through Sivad, the tune quiets and dissipates, slowly turning into a slow, bluesy riff. Percussionist Airto Moreira briefly sings along. When McLaughlin comes in, he starts playing machine gun patterns, in rhythms you would associate with pentatonic blues, but the scales are bizarre, full of flatted 9nths, although he’ll throw in a pentatonic line now and then to reassure folks. Sadly, this track fades out soon after his solo. Great stuff.

The next tune, Little Church, composed by Hermeto Pascoal, is taken from the mammoth studio sessions from winter of 1970 at Columbia studios, packaged in 2003 as The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions. It’s a rubato ballad, reminiscent of the ones Zawinul composed in the early days of Weather Report. The focus is squarely on lyricism. It’s a gorgeous reading of the tune, but I’ve got to say that the musicians seem a bit overqualified for such a straightforward task: you’ve got Steve Grossman on sax; Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and Keith Jarrett on keys; John McLaughlin on guitar; and the rhythm section of Jack DeJohnette (drums), Dave Holland (bass), and Airto Moreira (percussion). Amazingly, given the talent and egos and involved, the tune is as light as a wisp of mountain air.

The next selection, a medley of Gemini and Double Image, has a similar cast of characters, but is more in the direction of the groove based jam jazz Miles was headed in. Again, it’s remarkable how much space there is in the music, given that there are two keyboardists (Joe Zawinul and Chick Corea) and two drummers (Billy Cobham and Jack DeJohnette). On this tune, John McLaughlin plays a role similar to the one he plays in the live band. McLaughlin plays proto blues/rock riffs, but with a non-pentatonic harmonic basis. McLaughlin isn’t the only one playing outside. Even though the tune is anchored by a pedal point, the harmonies played by both keyboardists consistently skirt the tonic. As you would expect with such superb musicians, the musical communication is on a very high level.

With What I Say, we’re back with the live band. It’s an uptempo major chord groove tune, anchored by a repetitive bass pattern from Michael Henderson. Keith Jarrett kills on electric piano, in one of his greatest performances on record. Series of arpeggios just tumble joyfully out of his keyboard, still maintaining the gospel/funk flavor of the tune. Davis alternates between falsetto shrieks that dodge the key center and rapid post bop runs. At one point, Jack DeJohnette takes a lengthy drum solo that never drops the groove but maintains interest all the way through. John McLaughlin does his usual thing of using rock phrasing with a combination of pentatonic riffs and arcane uses of modes and the altered scale. Saxophonist Gary Bartz is a little outclassed in this company, but his solo is nothing to be ashamed of. He pretty much stays in a modal bag. Somehow, the band manages to keep up a feverish energy and creativity over the course of 20+ minutes.

This brings up the question: how is it that the live band on Live Evil totally kicks ass, but the band on Dark Magus, a later effort by Miles, is painful to listen to? I think the answer lies with the chordal instruments. The band on Live Evil is lucky enough to have Keith Jarrett, who contributes gorgeous improvisations and maintains the groove at the same time, and knows when to lay out to give the music room to breathe. In contrast, the Dark Magus band had three guitarists, who tended to play over each other, which ends up sounding like mud.

But how about On The Corner, which had just a killer a band as the one on Live Evil? The problem with On The Corner is an over-reliance on groove. On Live Evil, there’s more than enough harmonic content and improvisation to maintain interest.

Now, I should note that Live Evil isn’t perfect. The last two tunes, Funky Tonk and Inamorata, are almost identical in structure, and both are over twenty minutes long. I mean, both are good tunes, but would it have hurt Davis to choose another song with a different groove or structure? And what’s with the asinine narration by Conrad Roberts at the end of Inamorata? Why does the tune simply cut off instead of at least fading out?

But we’re still talking about a live band that’s on fire, pushing the boundaries of what jazz could be.

Unfortunately, there are no samples available for the Live Evil release per se, so I’ve put samples from The Complete Live At The Cellar Door Sessions and The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions, so all of the music on Live Evil is covered.