Miles Davis - The Cellar Door Sessions 1970

currently out of stock. possibly out of print

It's amazing stuff : It features six of the eight sets Miles Davis played at the Cellar Door in Washington DC, December 16-19, 1970, with a band consisting of Gary Bartz on saxophones, Keith Jarrett on keyboards, Michael Henderson on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and Airto Moreira on percussion. Heavily edited sections of the concert of December 19th, with John McLaughlin on guitar as a guest musician, were previously released as part of the Live-Evil album.

But until now, the Bartz-Jarrett-Henderson-DeJohnette-Moreira line-up on its own had never been heard on official releases. The box set has extensive liner notes with statements by all the musicians, as well as producers Bob Belden and Adam Holzman.

Keith Jarrett writes:

"I had forgotten about them [the CD recordings], or thought they were somehow sonically maligned. I remembered that I had a lot of Fender Rhodes problems (when didn't I? It was even a problem when it worked perfectly) and I must have just put it out of my head.

But the band was completely resurrected on these tapes, and I couldn't believe it. (...) Almost 35 years later, I find myself writing notes about the first release of this music, and although I don't have time to write, Miles and the band deserve it. His playing is so strong here that I need not comment on it.

If it doesn't knock your socks off, you aren't wearing any."