Miles Davis, Live At The Fillmore East (March 7, 1970) – It’s About That Time
Miles Davis eased into electrified jazz with the spacious and tasteful In a Silent Way and the bubbling stew of Bitches Brew. He took a massive leap forward on live albums recorded in 1970, like Black Beauty and At Fillmore released back in the day, and these belatedly issued sets from New York's premier rock palace (where he split the bill that weekend with Steve Miller, and Neil Young and Crazy Horse). It would be the last recording as a member of Miles's working band by saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who plays nasal soprano sax as well as beefier tenor. The music wasn't so much funky as frenetic. The sextet featured drummer Jack De Johnette, the sometimes barely audible Brazilian percussionist Airto, the great bassist Dave Holland (playing electric here) and scene-stealing electric pianist Chick Corea. He pummels the keys like free jazz titan Cecil Taylor, and revels in close-interval dissonances like Thelonious Monk. But with Corea's amp cranked up to 12, the effect is very different; he gets a gloriously distorted crush of sound from his Rhodes. At times it's like Corea and Holland especially are intent on playing free jazz with electric instruments; the band makes an invigorating collective roar.
