Miles Davis-Black Beauty: Live At The Fillmore West (1973)

This Miles Davis live recording from April 1970 coincides almost exactly with the release of the album "Bitches Brew", whose devastating impact would definitively break down the wall between jazz and rock. Around that time, Miles Davis had gone from performing in clubs and jazz halls to playing in large rock stadiums, as can be seen in his live album "It's About That Time," released posthumously in 2001 and recorded just a month before this one. Recorded at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, Miles Davis and his band were actually the opening act for the main act that night, the Grateful Dead, so the theater was packed with hippies, most of them under the influence of LSD and other drugs, eager to see their favorite band. That night, Davis was accompanied by Steve Grossman (soprano saxophone), Chick Corea (electric piano), Dave Holland (electric bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums), and Airto Moreira (percussion). The set performed that night by the trumpeter and his band still shows a certain transitional feel, with unpolished compositions that fail to capture the raw authenticity of that crucial moment. "Black Beauty Live At The Fillmore West" is a historic live recording where Miles Davis was still searching for his harmony between jazz and psychedelic rock, a harmony he would soon achieve brilliantly and masterfully.