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Bitches Brew has taken a relatively simple concept and turned it into something not-so-simple, and definitely really cool. They are technically a tribute band because most of the music they play was written by Miles Davis. They especially enjoyed Miles' space age period (1969-1974), beginning with the release of the double album Bitches Brew. On Bootleg Brew Vol. I, Bitches Brew has made a totally psychedelic jazz fusion album. At times you could mistake them for MMW, at other times you could literally think you were listening to the man himself, Miles Davis.
Now I've said for a while that I think that the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey has the coolest song titles around, but Bitches Brew are right behind them. We start out the album with an original intro entitled "Horn Conversation #1: Two Horsemen of the Apocalypse Discussing the Whereabouts of the Other Two." Believe me, if you heard the song the title would be a lot funnier because it really is horns "communicating" with each other. That intro fades into track 2, "Prelude (Part I)/(Part II)", my favorite track on the album. The way the second track takes over the first is very cool. All of a sudden this crazy drum beat fades in and then the bass and the guitar kick in. I turned on my CD player once, a few weeks ago, pushed shuffle without knowing what discs I had in my changer and this song came up. I couldn't remember that I had Bitches Brew in there. At first I thought I was listening to MMW, then I quickly realized it wasn't and then I couldn't figure out who the hell it was, all I knew was that it was really funky. I quickly opened up the changer and remembered that I had Bootleg Brew in there. True story.
Moving on, throughout the course of the CD we have three Horn Conversations to listen to. I've already told you about #1; #2 has an even funnier title: "Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse Discussing the Influence, if Any, of Warhol's Early Films on the Development of Dianetics." These guys must have been really high when they thought up the titles and concepts behind these Horn Conversations. With six different horn players recorded on this album, there was definitely a lot of "conversing" to do.
This is a free jazz album, infused with many different elements, hence the genre of fusion. There are elements of rock, funk, blues and a lot of hand percussion, which I particularly enjoy. There is of course a steady flow of improvisation as well. This is a live album and it really shows what this band is capable of. As of now they have really only performed in and around the San Francisco area, but hopefully will someday soon come East. Jazz has become really popular again, the people's music, music to dance to like it was back in the day. And Bitches Brew are on top of the game. These guys can play. They were voted Best Local Band in the San Francisco Weekly "Best of San Francisco 2001" Readers' Poll, and they won "Best Local Jazz Band" in the 2001 SF Music Awards, and I'm sure many of you are aware of all the talent in SF. With their last album, studio effort "Gooey Dewey", they occupied the #1 slot on KALX's jazz charts for several weeks. They play packed houses all over SF and have played with Vinyl, Project Object and have headlined the Great American Music Hall. These guys can only get bigger so hopefully we will hear more about them soon.
They play a few originals on the album and a few Miles songs. The horns are prominent throughout the whole album; they're the lead instrument. Towards the end of the disc percussion is used heavily, with the drum kit in the background. There is a lot of cymbal work, more than just drumming. At one point on track 10, "On the Corner", there is a percussion jam with the crowd howling encouragements in the background making you feel as if you were there that night. These guys have taken Miles' music and stretched it as far as it can go, exploring each song and seeing how they can re-work it and give it their own signature sound. I kind of hesitate to call them a tribute band, although maybe technically they are. Even though they are covering numerous Miles' songs, they put such a twist on them it almost feels like their own songs. And this is a live album, so there is lots of improvisation. I would bet that most tribute and cover bands don't even know what it means to improvise.
The liner notes on the album say, "this CD does not contain our best stuff." They talk about how, prior to this recording, they had a few nights of legendary and fantastic playing that aren't here because "like all great music perhaps... they were never recorded." Well, I guess we'll have to make due with "Bootleg Brew Vol. I." Oh yah, I never told you the title of Horn Conversation #3: "Three Guys at 24th & Mission Discussing Where to Find a Really, Really Cheap Tamale."
Sam Katz
JamBase | Beantown
Go see live music!
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