Miles Davis: Live at the Cellar Door

Finally these legendary sessions are properly released. Some of the material from this set was editied and released as Live-Evil, so if you have that, great, but you should not hesitate if you're on the fence. This isn't just extended takes of the Live-Evil material. Actually, for all the hype these sessions have generated over the years, I didn't expect it to be this good. But it is. This is truly the missing gap that bridges Bitches Brew and the later Dark Magus period bands.

Keith Jerret is at this best here, you can really hear him stretch on this set. Too bad he never went more in the fusion direction. Jack DeJohnette and Michael Henderson provide the bones in bad ass fashion, Michael Henderson's bass sounds a lot better than on Live Evil. The mix is great, this is definitely one of the best sounding live recordings I've ever heard.

Chick Corea cooks with some of his best fusion playing ever hinting at what was to come later with Return to Forever. Miles brought the best out in Corea. Even Airto, while sometimes in the background, comes up with some interesting shakes and squeaks accenting the music very well, never attracting too much attention. Gary Bartz snaks in and out of the music with some great solos.

John McLaughlin is not on the whole box, he just popped in on the last night so two of the Saturday night sets are presented on this set. The material is pretty much the same, but McLaughlin adds a darker edge to the overall sound.

I'd say the stand-out discs are 2, 3 and 6. Anyway, if you're a Miles freak, of course you must own this. It's one of the best representations that successfully bridges jazz, rock and fusion. To all you idiots that says Miles was "done" and/or "sold out" when he turned electric, you should listen to this. Those of you who want to play it safe, go for Birth of the Cool or Kind of Blue. This is Miles at this peak.