Miles Davis Live-Evil Super-Audio CD

Digitally remastered by Tom Ruff (Sony Music Studios, New York, New York).

This is a Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio CD players.

Broken into a group of short studio pieces and four extended live jams, LIVE EVIL finds Miles Davis going further up the river, into the heart of uncharted musical darkness. In the studio, Miles took simple tone ballads and immersed them in the electrified air that he'd been breathing since IN A SILENT WAY. "Nem Um Talvez" and "Selim" are sister pieces; with Miles' trumpet bathed in Hermeto Pascoal's keyboards and vocal moans, sprinkled with proto-dub percussion effects.

The live pieces are another animal altogether. Augmented by John McLaughlin's Hendrixian guitar runs and bolstered by Michael Henderson's funky bass pops, these are blues-tinged tickets to an electric, improvisational nirvana. With room to stretch out in any direction, each soloist develops fluidly within the ensemble, then thrusts powerfully forward. Jack DeJohnette and Airto Moreira hold down the backbeat, shifting it into a multitude of forms; Keith Jarrett fills the down-tempo breaks admirably. But it's Miles and McLaughlin who incite this music to the frenzied riot that is it's true calling. When the time comes and the massive, dark groove descends, it comes with a ritualistic, heretofore-unheard fervor.

Live-Evil is one of Miles Davis' most confusing and illuminating documents. As a double album, it features very different settings of his band -- and indeed two very different bands. The double-LP CD package is an amalgam of a December 19, 1970, gig at the Cellar Door, which featured a band comprised of Miles, bassist Michael Henderson, drummer Jack DeJohnette, guitarist John McLaughlin, saxophonist Gary Bartz, Keith Jarrett on organ, and percussionist Airto. These tunes show a septet that grooved hard and fast, touching on the great funkiness that would come on later. But they are also misleading in that McLaughlin only joined the band for this night of a four-night stand; he wasn't really a member of the band at this time. Therefore, as fine and deeply lyrically grooved-out as these tracks are, they feel just a bit stiff -- check any edition of this band without him and hear the difference. The other band on these discs was recorded in Columbia's Studio B and subbed Ron Carter or Dave Holland on bass, added Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock on electric pianos, dropped the guitar on "Selim" and "Nem Um Talvez," and subbed Steve Grossman over Ga

Recorded at Columbia Studio B, New York, New York between February 6 and June 4, 1970, and live at the Cellar Door, Washington, D.C. on December 19, 1970. Includes liner notes by Gary Bartz.

Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); Hermeto Pascoal (vocals, whistling, electric piano, drums); John McLaughlin (guitar); Khalil Balakrishna (electric sitar); Gary Bartz (soprano saxophone, alto saxophone); Steve Grossman, Wayne Shorter (soprano saxophone); Keith Jarrett (electric piano, organ); Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul (electric piano); Dave Holland (acoustic bass, electric bass); Ron Carter (acoustic bass); Michael J. Henderson (electric bass); Jack DeJohnette, Billy Cobham (drums); Airto Moreira (percussion).

Audio Mixer: Russ Payne.

Liner Note Author: Gary Bartz.

Recording information: Columbia Studio B, New York, NY (02/06/1970-12/19/1970); The Cellar Door, Washington DC (02/06/1970-12/19/1970).

Photographer: Don Hunstein.

Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); Hermeto Pascoal (vocals, whistling, electric piano, drums); Conrad Roberts (spoken vocals); Gary Bartz (soprano & alto saxophones); Steve Grossman, Wayne Shorter (soprano saxophone); Keith Jarrett (electric piano, organ); Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea (electric piano); John McLaughlin (guitar); Khalil Balakrishna (electric sitar); Dave Holland (acoustic & electric basses); Ron Carter (acoustic bass); Michael Henderson (electric bass); Jack DeJohnette, Billy Cobham (drums); Airto Moreia (percussion).Rolling Stone (1/20/72, pp.51-52) - "...Everybody is just playing away, and there aren't any weak links....Miles reacts to this happy situation by playing his ass off....this sounds like what Miles had in mind when he first got into electric music and freer structures and rock rhythms..."
Spin (8/97, p.117) - "...splices together live chunks and cool studio vignettes, and features the Hindu heavy-metal fretwork of John McLaughlin..."
Entertainment Weekly (8/01/97, p.75) - "...With his inimitable trumpeting--by turns melancholy, pungent, and lyrical--at the music's center, his electrified cohorts stretch the limits of jazz, rock, and funk..."
- Rating: A-
Down Beat (7/97, p.65) - 4 1/2 stars (out of 5) - "Initially recorded in '69 and '70, when the band was in flux, this palindrome-titled monster was later assembled out of live and studio tapes by Davis and producer Teo Macero.... this isn't pyrotechnic techno-dweeb fusion, but an outstandingly creative electric collage..."
JazzTimes (10/97, p.87) - "...Miles' true electric rite of passage..."
Musician (8/97, p.87) - "...The ears-open interactivity of Davis' ensembles--that ability to engage in serious musical conversation while flying in the upper atmosphere--is enough to shame any current bebop-babbling jazz automaton..."