Miles Davis - A Tribute to Jack Johnson (2020 Columbia/Legacy Vinyl LP)

Miles Davis - A Tribute to Jack Johnson | Vinyl LP - 2020 Columbia/Legacy European Reissue (19075950871, Record Industry)

Miles Davis made a promise during this period that he could put together "the greatest rock band you ever heard." This album is the evidence.

"Right Off" runs nearly 27 minutes. Henderson's bass opens alone with Cobham, a groove so locked that McLaughlin's entry over the top sounds like an explosion. The story, repeated by McLaughlin in multiple interviews, is that Davis was in the control room when McLaughlin started playing and ran into the studio to answer him. What follows is the most aggressive, rhythmically intense music Davis ever released. McLaughlin plays as if he is competing with the trumpet rather than accompanying it. Grossman's soprano saxophone enters later. At roughly 18 minutes, McLaughlin hammers a riff directly from Sly Stone's "Sing a Simple Song," the citation deliberate and unashamed.

"Yesternow" fills the entire second side and occupies different territory: slower, more spaced out, closer to the ambient drift of In a Silent Way. At one point Macero splices in a passage from "Shhh/Peaceful," Davis literally sampling his own earlier work.

The credited personnel tells only part of the story. Macero built both tracks from multiple session tapes, incorporating material from musicians not listed on the LP: Sonny Sharrock, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette and Bennie Maupin all contributed to the raw sessions.

This is the 2020 EU Columbia/Legacy reissue, pressed at Record Industry in the Netherlands.