Miles Davis at the Fillmore

[Guy Berger]

In 1970 and 1971, Miles Davis and his groups played a series of gigs at the Fillmores East and West.

Fillmore East, with Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette and Airto Moreira:

1) March 6, 1970, first set: Directions/Miles Runs the Voodoo Down/I Fall in Love too Easily/Sanctuary/It's About That Time/The Theme; second set: Directions/Miles Runs the Voodoo Down/I Fall in Love too Easily/Sanctuary/It's About That Time/The Theme

2) March 7, 1970, first set: Directions/Spanish Key/Masqualero/It's About That Time; second set: Directions/Miles Runs the Voodoo Down/Bitches Brew/Spanish Key/It's About That Time/Willie Nelson/The Theme (issued as It's About That Time: Live at the Fillmore East)

These were Wayne Shorter's last gigs with Miles. The band is more explicitly rockish than the 1969 Lost Quintet, but a lot of the free elements are still there. Chick adopts effects on his electric piano, and Dave switches to primarily electric bass. "It's About That Time" and "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" aren't the wild avant-garde pieces they were in 1969. Superb music.

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Fillmore West, with Steve Grossman, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette and Airto Moreira:

3) April 9, 1970: Directions/Miles Runs the Voodoo Down/This/It's About That Time/I Fall in Love too Easily/Sanctuary/Spanish Key/Bitches Brew/The Theme

4) April 10, 1970: Directions/Miles Runs the Voodoo Down/Willie Nelson/I Fall in Love too Easily/Sanctuary/It's About That Time/Bitches Brew/Masqualero/Spanish Key/The Theme (issued as Black Beauty)

5) April 11, 1970: Directions/Miles Runs the Voodoo Down [incl. Sundance]/Paraphernalia/Footprints/I Fall in Love too Easily/Sanctuary/It's About That Time/Willie Nelson/The Theme

6) April 12, 1970: It's About That Time/Directions/I Fall in Love too Easily/Sanctuary/Footprints/Agitation/No Blues/Bitches Brew/Spanish Key/The Theme

Steve Grossman replaces Shorter. I like these gigs a lot, though they're not on the level of the March recordings. These are the last recorded performances of "Footprints", "Masqualero", "No Blues" and "Agitation". A favorite performance is "It's About That Time" from April 12 -- very funky & chunky. Also, Grossman has a nice tenor solo on one of the "Directions" (April 11?) -- he sounds much better on this horn than on the soprano.

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Fillmore East, with Steve Grossman, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette and Airto Moreira:

7) June 17, 1970: Directions/The Mask/It's About That Time/Bitches Brew/The Theme

8) June 18, 1970: Directions/The Mask/It's About That Time/Bitches Brew/The Theme/Spanish Key (was this the only time Miles played an encore?)/The Theme

9) June 19, 1970: Directions/The Mask/It's About That Time/I Fall in Love too Easily/Sanctuary/Bitches Brew/The Theme

10) June 20, 1970: Directions/The Mask/It's About That Time/I Fall in Love too Easily/Sanctuary/Bitches Brew/Willie Nelson/The Theme

(issued in bits and pieces on At Fillmore])

These are the gigs sliced and diced by Teo for At Fillmore. The infamous keyboard battles between Chick and Keith are here. The group is much funkier than it was in April.

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Fillmore West, with Gary Bartz, Keith Jarrett, Michael Henderson, Jack DeJohnette, Airto Moreira and Jumma Santos:

11) October 15, 1970: Honky Tonk/What I Say/Sanctuary/Yesternow/Bitches Brew/Funky Tonk/The Theme

12) October 17, 1970: Directions/Honky Tonk/What I Say/Sanctuary/Yesternow/Bitches Brew/Funky Tonk/The Theme

13) October 18, 1970: Directions/Honky Tonk/What I Say/Sanctuary/Yesternow/Bitches Brew/Funky Tonk/The Theme

This is the Cellar Door band, early in its life. The major "tunes" in the band's book are already these. The groove isn't as tight as it would be two months later.

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Fillmore West, with Gary Bartz, Keith Jarrett, Michael Henderson, Jack DeJohnette, and Airto Moreira:

14) May 16-19, 1971: Honky Tonk/What I Say/Sanctuary/It's About That Time/Funky Tonk/Sanctuary Theme

This is the Cellar Door band at its peak. The groove is ridiculously tight. There aren't any more recordings until October, when the band goes to Europe with Ndugu Chancler instead of Jack D.

All gig information comes from Pete Losin's excellent site, Miles Ahead.