Miles Davis - Live-Evil (1972 Japanese CBS/Sony Quadraphonic SQ 2xLP)

Miles Davis - Live-Evil | 2 x Vinyl LP - 1972 CBS/Sony Japan Quadraphonic SQ (SOPL 143~4, gatefold, DP Master Sound)

• Half live, half studio, all electric Miles, combining recordings from the Cellar Door in Washington D.C. (December 1970) with studio sessions at Columbia Studio B earlier that year, edited and assembled by Teo Macero.
• Two different bands across four sides, with Gary Bartz, Keith Jarrett, Michael Henderson, John McLaughlin, Jack DeJohnette and Airto Moreira on the live tracks, and various combinations of Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Steve Grossman, Hermeto Pascoal, Dave Holland and Ron Carter on the studio material.
• 1972 Japanese quadraphonic SQ pressing on CBS/Sony, DP Master Sound, SX68MARK-II. Gatefold sleeve with Japanese liner notes by Iwanami Yōzō.

The live tracks on Live-Evil were recorded on the final night of a four-night run at the Cellar Door, a 163-seat club in Washington D.C., on December 19, 1970. Miles called John McLaughlin at the last minute and asked him to come down and play. The resulting band, with Gary Bartz on saxophone, Keith Jarrett on electric organ, Michael Henderson on bass, DeJohnette on drums and Airto on percussion, tore through extended jams that Teo Macero later cut and reassembled at the mixing desk. “Sivad” (Davis backwards) opens the album at nearly fifteen minutes. “What I Say” fills Side B at twenty-one. “Funky Tonk” runs to twenty-three on Side C. “Inamorata and Narration by Conrad Roberts” takes all of Side D. The live material is dense, loud, rhythmically relentless. Henderson’s electric bass drives it in a way that Ron Carter or Dave Holland never would have, locking with DeJohnette into something closer to funk than jazz.

The studio tracks come from a different planet. “Little Church” features Hermeto Pascoal on electric piano and whistling over a delicate chamber piece. “Nem Um Talvez” and “Selim” (Miles backwards) are short, reflective compositions from earlier 1970 sessions with rotating personnel that read like a roll call of the era’s most important players: Hancock, Corea, Shorter, Grossman, Holland, Carter, Zawinul. Billy Cobham and Khalil Balakrishna (on sitar) appear on the “Gemini/Double Image” medley. Macero’s editing ties all of it together into something that shouldn’t cohere but does. Mati Klarwein, who had painted the Bitches Brew cover, provided the artwork. This copy is the 1972 Japanese quadraphonic SQ pressing on CBS/Sony, an early quad mix in DP Master Sound with SX68MARK-II processing. Gatefold sleeve with liner notes by Iwanami Yōzō.