Customer Reviews

Live at the Fillmore East (March 7, 1970): It's About That Time

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

With this release, there are now three official documents of Miles Davis at the Fillmores: March 1970 (this one), April 1970 (Black Beauty, at the Fillmore West), and June 1970 (At Fillmore). The three albums all have a similar sound and repertoire -- electrified improvisation over rock grooves with a nice dose of free jazz. The main thing elevating It's About That Time above the other two is saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who would leave after this recording to be replaced on the April and June recordings by the inexperienced and ineffective Steve Grossman. Shorter is positively scary on some of the tracks here -- just listen to his torrential tenor saxophone blowing over the churning rhythm section on either take of "Directions". He dominates this music. I personally prefer the tenor sax over the soprano, and there's plenty of the former here as an added bonus. As for Miles: he blows some intense, screaming trumpet as on the other Fillmore discs, but gains additional inspiration from Shorter's presence. After all, the two had been playing together for over five years at this point. Percussionist Airto Moreira makes some irrelevant noise but you'll tune him out quickly. The rhythm section (Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette) is as explosive as always, whether setting up a funky groove on "Spanish Key" or freely improvising on "It's About That Time". Corea's distorted and processed electric piano provides a more than adequate replacement for the lack of guitar. The sound quality here isn't the best, but who cares with music this powerful? If you have either Black Beauty or At Fillmore and were wondering whether this is worth picking up, the answer is DEFINITELY YES. And if you don't, pick this one up anyway.

(Despite being labelled the last gig with the "Lost Quintet", this set sounds different from the Summer and Fall '69 gigs featuring this group minus Airto. That music was jazzier and didn't have the distortion on Corea's electric piano. It also included some of the older pieces like Round Midnight and No Blues. Hopefully Columbia will release some of that great music one day.)

While it doesn't surprise me, it never ceases to amaze me that most of Miles Davis' music never loses its sense of unpredictability, even as his musical vision gains in clarity among listeners with the passage of time. That is particularly true of this album, issued over three-decades after it was recorded. At times on these sets, Miles' "controlled freedom" approach to music seems on the verge of losing it entirely, with passages that sound more like avant-garde jazz than Fillmore-friendly jazz/rock. Nonetheless, a balance is maintained via DeJohnette's dynamic grooves, and Miles' trademark ability to pull chaos back into order with a single phrase on his horn. One minute you've got tumultuous interplay, the next you've got Miles playing brilliantly over irresistable yet complex backbeats.
In comparison with the two other officially-released 1970 Fillmore albums, I give this CD the edge due to the outstanding recording quality & remastering, the presence of Wayne Shorter on reeds, and the lack of post-production cut-and-paste that marred AT FILLMORE. Miles is in remarkable form on all three recordings, playing mostly with a harder tone that moves confidently and flawlessly into the upper reaches of his horn (does anybody still speak of Davis as having inferior trumpet-playing technique--he sounds like he can do anything he wants with the horn here). Yet in the music's occasional quieter moments his softer, lyrical side is on fresh display.

I was a sophomore in college when Miles brought this band to play in our gym. I had never attended a "jazz" concert before, so imagine my surprise when these guys took the stage and began to BURN!! I'll admit that I didn't understand what I was hearing at the time, but the experience changed me forever.
In the ensuing years, I have been to hundreds of jazz shows, and have amassed a huge collection of jazz recordings. However, my memory of the "Lost Qintet" in the winter of 1970 has always haunted me. Now, at last, a recording of this group at the Fillmore East has enabled me to relive those first moments when Miles, Dave, Jack, Chick and Wayne opened my ears (and mind)to the endless possibilities of music.
This is a great recording, the quality is there, the energy is almost unbearably intense. A must for Miles fans. In my opinion, his greatest band ever!!

If you're a fan of the previous 70's era Miles releases then you are in for a real treat with this new edition. This is much more of a complete sound than what was offered on the first Fillmore East discs. No abrupt editing here and the sound is consistent with each musician equally in the mix (remember this is a 1970 recording) The presence of Wayne Shorter makes such a positive impact on this amazingly tight crew, as opposed to some of the sax players that have been featured on other 70's era recordings. This is live electric Miles at its best and most accesable. This is an amazing collection of sound for the listener willing to stretch out a bit and venture into realms that have been tapped by many but mastered by few. Behold the masters, treading the fine line of geniusly controlled insanity.

This live March 7, 1970 release is burning hot and intense. Oddly enough, Miles was warming up for the Steve Miller Blues Band and Neil Young and the response from the audience is halfhearted and lukewarm. It seems likely that fans of the comparatively more straightforward material of those two bands were in no way shape or form prepared for this wild barrage of free jazz, jazz-rock, and unfettered experimentation. It's too bad too - this is easily the best set I have heard from this period of Miles (1969-1971) and reinforces in my mind the incalculable impact he had on music.

Alongside Miles (trumpet) is a virtual who's who of the jazz rock scene: Chick Corea (Fender Rhodes electric piano); Jack DeJohnette (drums); Dave Holland (electric bass guitar and acoustic bass); Wayne Shorter (soprano and tenor saxophone); and Airto Moreira (percussion). These guys are all top shelf musicians and turn in some of the most "out there" performances I have ever heard. Chick Corea is especially wild and simply tears the electric piano up - the furious, free-form barrage with Dave Holland during the first set is simply unbelievable. Speaking of the bassist, I happen to like Dave Holland quite a lot - a lot more in fact than Motown bassist Mike Henderson (who played on the Live Evil album, 1971). Dave is a technically superior player and he truly interacts with the other players rather than just laying down an ostinato. Jack DeJohnette is also in top form and churns out a swirling mass of impenetrably dense rhythms, while Wayne Shorter cuts loose with furious torrents of notes that recall free jazzer Eric Dolphy at his most intense. Whew. Let us just say that the performances on this live recording are hot.

Tracks 1-4 comprise a 42 minute jam that holds your attention all the way through, while the second set provides more of the same. Musically, the pieces incorporate elements of free jazz, although some influences taken from James Brown and other soul/funk musicians can be heard as well - even though they really take a back seat to the free jazz and experimental jazz rock.

If you enjoyed this live album, you might also like Bitches Brew (1970); Live Evil (1971); A Tribute to Jack Johnson (1971); and On the Corner (1972). This is all simply amazing stuff and Miles was an extremely forward thinking musician. Very highly recommended.

It's a mystery to me why it took Columbia thirty years to release this recording. It's also a mystery to me how anyone could still make the statement that this music was a case of Miles 'selling out'. This is incredible music - innovative, spontaneous, grooving, and sharply interactive. As was often the case with Miles, his band consisted of some of the brightest talents on the jazz scene. Chick Corea, Airto, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, and Wayne Shorter are all fountains of creativity on this set. It's About That Time justifies the legendary status of this particular group and it reminds us of the significance of Miles' early 70's music.

This new release of "The Lost Quintet" in concert at Fillmore is an essential purchase for Miles fans. "Live at the Fillmore East", chronologically the first of the three Live-at-Fillmore recordings from 1970, features Wayne Shorter in one of his last performances with Davis.

The sound is pretty good and the "organic" recording technique is a welcome contrast to the cut-and-paste approach used on many of Miles 1969-75 releases. Of course, "Bitches Brew" is Bitches Brew -- who would change a thing? -- but it's cool to hear that repertoire peformed live, without edits.

Over the next few years, Miles moved towards the guitar-laden, primordial funk featured on "Dark Magus" and "Agharta". But this is jazz that really rocks, featuring Miles as part of a tight, muscular quintet at the peak of its powers. Wish I was there...

Live At The Fillmore East (March 7,1970): It's About That Time is probably the most energetic live album that Miles Davis and any of his bands have ever recorded. This album was recorded during the height of their fusion period. This 2-disc set takes the classic themes introduced during the albums "In A Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew" to a whole new level, whether it's on the very aggressive first disc or the moodier and slower paced second disc.

Disc 1 begins with "Directions", with the rhythm section of Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette charging like a locomotive. Chick Corea's electric piano blasts and Davis and Wayne Shorter's playing only adding to the fire. Then it kicks straight into "Spanish Key", in a much harder and funkier version than on Bitches Brew. Shorter's "Masqualero" comes next and his extended soloing as well as Corea's electric piano gives a small reprieve while continuing to be innovative. Then the band kicks into overdrive with "It's About That Time/The Theme" with Miles returning with some downright mean soloing. This track borders on chaos, played at a much faster speed than the original and then going into some insane soloing from Corea, Shorter, and Davis before ending the set.

Disc 2 starts with "Directions" at a slower pace with Holland's bass playing being more subdued before slowing becoming even more chaotic than the version on Disc 1, particularly when a loud whistle enters the track. "Miles Runs The Voodoo Down" slows down the tempo, evolving around Holland's bass line and the band playing funkier, occasionally upping the energy throughout the track. "Bitches Brew" is next, in a much shorter version, but just as haunting as the original. The wah-wah pedal is used to full effect here as the beat is slowed down once more under Davis and Shorter's solos. The version of "Spanish Key" on this disc revolves more around the percussion of DeJohnette and Airto Moreira then around the hard funk on Disc 1. The album ends with "It's About That Time/Willie Nelson" sounding closer to the studio version with more kinetic drumming but still featuring an extended keyboard solo near the end of the track. This album is outstanding in both the performances and sound quality. Highly recommended to all fans of jazz fusion.

Miles Davis' 1969-1970 performances, which saw - or rather heard - the trumpeter fusing the eerily open-ended logic of BITCHES BREW with the screaming stagecraft of the then-burgeoning arena rock scene, represent one of the most exciting links in the solid gold chain of breakthroughs which was his singularly stellar career. Long unavailable in the US, these shows have hit the shelves in a big way over the past nine years as Columbia Records continues its hell-for-leather efforts to get every note Miles ever recorded for the label out to the public. Happily, IT'S ABOUT THAT TIME, like other releases from the same era, more than justifies such a policy.
With saxophonist Wayne Shorter here playing his final gig with Miles, TIME could easily get by on historic importance alone. But riding atop one of Davis' - indeed, one of jazz's - greatest rhythm sections (Chick Corea on electric piano and assorted bizarre circuitry, Dave Holland on bass guitar and Jack DeJohnette on drums and on fire), the two great blowers and composers are given no chance to rest on their laurels. Tunes from BREW and IN A SILENT WAY here coalesce into forty-five-minute suites of crashing, keening, thundering improvisational elan and fearlessly forward momentum. Whether this sort of thing is your cup of tea or not, it's impossible to dismiss; few if any acts in either the jazz or rock sphere could have offered a more powerful concert experience than this in what must surely rank as the absolute peak period for live music of any sort. Never once sinking into either the safety of convention or the lethargy of chaos, this version of the Miles Davis Quintet/Sextet was and remains a formidable unit.
And IT'S ABOUT THAT TIME is a formidable pair of discs. Whether it's the best way to hear Miles and Company at this juncture, however, is rather hard to say. I'd actually call the long-deleted Japan-only release 1969 MILES, recorded in Antibes a month before BITCHES BREW itself, a somewhat more interesting document, as it applies the scorched-earth logic of this band to a broader cross-section of Davis' repertoire, including such pre-electric classics as "'Round Midnight" and "Footprints." By the same token, Shorter's departure, regrettable as it may have been, didn't prevent his bandmates from continuing to jell and explore, with the result that BLACK BEAUTY, recorded a month after this set with Steve Grossman on soprano sax, seems to my ears to achieve the impossible by reaching an even more torrential level of intensity, if only in a few spots.
Nevertheless, with no other recording of this particular combo tackling this particular program currently available, IT'S ABOUT THAT TIME meets five-star criteria for both the sound and significance of its content. Miles forever!

This group definitely deserves to be rendered as Miles' 3rd great quintet. On the night these two sets were recorded, Miles, Chick, Wayne, Holland, and DeJohnette along with Airto were all ON. Here is the group that was the nucleus of the Bitches Brew sessions created months before, all reading each other and weaving sound patterns around turbulent vamps. Blistering. . . colorful. . . tight. The recording quality of this disc is impressive, being done by Teo Macero in 1970. This music is pure, without the edits appearing on other recorded sets of live Miles. It is also pure because these musicians stretch the boundaries of both musical substance and play for themselves, engulfed in their art while exuding the essence of jazz: absolute spontaneity of expression.