Artist: Miles Davis
Song/Album: Bitches Brew / Bitches Brew
Writers: Miles Davis
Year Released: 1970
Genre/Sub Genre: Jazz Fusion (Rock, Funk, Psyc, Blues)

Why it’s a “Penn’s Pick”:

Few songs and albums are so revolutionary that they create a new genre of music, inspire countless artists and turn Pop culture on its head.

The Beatles did it with Sgt. Pepper, Nirvana did it with Smells Like Teen Spirit/Nevermind, and Miles Davis did it with Bitches Brew.

Recorded in just 3 days during the summer of 1969, Bitches Brew was the culmination of the direction that Davis started to explore on the previous year’s In A Silent Way album.  Fusing elements of Jazz, Rock, Funk, Psychedelic and Blues into a voodoo sonic soup, the album turned the Jazz world on its head and acted as the catalyst for the entire Jazz Fusion revolution that followed throughout the 1970’s and beyond.

As you could well imagine, his new artistic vision wasn’t met enthusiastically by all.  Many Jazz purists considered Davis to be a “sellout” with his new direction, turning his back on the Hard Bop and Cool Jazz that defined his style throughout the 50’s and early to mid 1960’s.   He certainly had a kindred spirit in Bob Dylan, who just went through a similar controversial transformation by abandoning his acoustic Folk roots and going electric at Newport ’65 to a thunderous round of “boos.”

For as many “purists” that he alienated, Davis gained an even greater number of new fans as his revolutionary “far out” sound started to connect and resonate with the Woodstock generation.  By the end of 1969, gone were the days of playing his old Jazz haunts as he was now being billed alongside Rock acts such as the Grateful Dead and Santana at the Fillmore and festivals including the Isle of Wight festival in 1970.

Bitches Brew is an album that needs to be listened to in its entirety in order to get the full impact of Davis’s vision.  But if there was just 1 song that epitomized its overall vibe and acted to usher in Davis’s new electric revolution, it would be the title cut.

Clocking in at 27:00 in length, it’s a patchwork of themes that are interwoven to create an intricate, yet completely engaging, inspiring and rewarding sonic landscape.  And then there’s that intro, quite lengthy at 2:50, but one of the most powerful intros that you’ll ever hear in recorded music.

So sit back, listen and take in one of the most iconic songs/albums in recorded history!