Live-Evil (Miles Davis album)
Live-Evil | ||||
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Live album / studio album by Miles Davis | ||||
Released | November 17, 1971 | |||
Recorded | February 6 and June 3–4, 1970, at Columbia Studio B in New York City; December 19, 1970 at The Cellar Door in Washington, D.C. | |||
Genre |
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Length | 101:56 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Teo Macero | |||
Miles Davis chronology | ||||
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Live-Evil is an album of both live and studio recordings by the American jazz musician Miles Davis.[1] Parts of the album featured music from Davis' concert at the Cellar Door in 1970, which producer Teo Macero subsequently edited and pieced together in the studio.[2] They were performed as lengthy, dense jams in the jazz-rock style, while the studio recordings consisted mostly of renditions of Hermeto Pascoal compositions.[3] The album was originally released on November 17, 1971.[4]
Background
A number of famous jazz musicians feature on the album, including Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette. One of the key musicians on the album, John McLaughlin, was not a regular member of Miles Davis's band during the time of recording. Davis called McLaughlin at the last minute to join the band for the last of four nights they recorded live at the Cellar Door, as Davis was "looking for an element he hadn't quite nailed down"[5] on the previous nights.
Davis had originally intended the album to be a spiritual successor to Bitches Brew, but this idea was abandoned when it became obvious that Live-Evil was "something completely different".[6]
Cover artwork
The album cover was illustrated by artist Mati Klarwein. Klarwein had painted the front cover independently of Davis, but the back cover was painted with a suggestion from Davis:
"I was doing the picture of the pregnant woman for the cover and the day I finished, Miles called me up and said, 'I want a picture of life on one side and evil on the other.' And all he mentioned was a toad. Then next to me was a copy of Time Magazine which had J. Edgar Hoover on the cover, and he just looked like a toad. I told Miles I found the toad."[7]
Record club pressings of the album simply had the album title printed on a black cover.[8]
Critical reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
All Music Guide to Jazz | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Christgau's Record Guide | A−[10] |
Down Beat | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | A−[13] |
Los Angeles Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
MusicHound Jazz | 3/5[15] |
Penguin Guide to Jazz | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork | 9.9/10[17] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Sputnikmusic | 4/5[19] |
Live-Evil was released by Columbia Records in 1971 to critical acclaim.[20] In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, Robert Palmer said "this sounds like what Miles had in mind when he first got into electric music and freer structures and rock rhythms". He called the shorter, ballad-like recordings "things of great beauty", devoid of solos but full of "stunning, bittersweet lines", while also praising each band member's soloing on the live jams: "Everybody is just playing away, there aren't any weak links, and there isn't any congestion to speak of. Miles reacts to this happy situation by playing his ass off, too".[21] Black World critic Red Scott remarked that all of Live-Evil's songs "fuse into a perfect complement of musicians passing moods to each other".[22] Pete Welding from Down Beat was less enthusiastic in a two-and-a-half star review, finding the live recordings characterized by "long dull stretches of water-treading alternating with moments of strength and inspiration".[11]
The magazine's John Corbett later called Live-Evil "an outstandingly creative electric collage",[11] while Erik Davis from Spin found the music "kinetic" and described McLaughlin's playing as "Hindu heavy-metal fretwork".[23] Pitchfork's Ryan Schreiber believed it was "easily the most accessible of Miles Davis' late-'70s [sic] electric releases", describing its music as "at once both sexually steamy and unsettling". He said the live recordings "run the gamut from barroom brawl action-funk to sensual bedroom jazz magic, creating two hours of charged eccentricity you'll never forget".[17] Robert Christgau said that apart from the meandering "Inamorata", the "long pieces are usually fascinating and often exciting", including "Funky Tonk", which he called Davis's "most compelling rhythmic exploration to date". He believed the shorter pieces sounded like "impressionistic experiments", while "Selim" and "Nem Um Talvez" appropriately "hark back to the late '50s".[10] Edwin C. Faust from Stylus Magazine called Live-Evil "one of the funkiest albums ever recorded" while deeming the "somber" short pieces to be "haunting examples of musical purity—Miles enriching our ears with evocative melodies (his work on Sketches of Spain comes to mind) while the bass creeps cautiously, an organ hums tensly, and human whistles/vocals float about forebodingly like wistful phantoms".[24]
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Sivad" | Miles Davis | 15:16 |
2. | "Little Church" | Hermeto Pascoal | 3:17 |
3. | "Medley: Gemini/Double Image" | Davis/Joe Zawinul | 5:56 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "What I Say" | Davis | 21:12 |
2. | "Nem Um Talvez" | Pascoal | 4:03 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Selim" | Pascoal | 2:15 |
2. | "Funky Tonk" | Davis | 23:28 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Inamorata and Narration by Conrad Roberts" | Davis | 26:29 |
Total length: | 101:56 |
Personnel and recording sources
The live tracks on Live-Evil were truncated edits of various live jams recorded at The Cellar Door in 1970. Below is a list of each track with its corresponding source performances (which were released in the 2005 box set The Cellar Door Sessions 1970).
Side one (25:50)
2. "Little Church" (3:14)
3. "Medley: Gemini/Double Image" (5:53)
Side two (25:12)
2. "Nem Um Talvez" (4:03)
| Side three (25:38)
2. "Funky Tonk" (23:26)
Side four (26:29)
|
Note: The Cellar Door Sessions 1970 box set uses the titles "Improvisation #4" (for Keith Jarrett's keyboard intro) and "Inamorata" instead of "Funky Tonk". In the Source column of the tables above, the title "Funky Tonk" is used.
See also
References
- ^ Cole, George (2007). The Last Miles: The Music of Miles Davis, 1980–1991. University of Michigan Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-472-03260-0.
- ^ Carr, Roy (21 August 1997). GoogleBooks preview. Hachette Books. ISBN 9780306807787. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
- ^ White, Lenny (2012). "Miles, Tony Williams, and the Road to Bitches Brew". In Dregni, Michael (ed.). Miles Davis: The Complete Illustrated History. Voyageur Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-0760342626.
- ^ "Live-Evil - Miles Davis : Releases". AllMusic. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
- ^ Goode, Mort, ed. (1972). The Inner Sleeve. Columbia.
- ^ Davis, Miles. Miles: The Autobiography. ISBN 0-634-00682-7
- ^ Szwed, John. So What: the Life of Miles Davis, p. 319
- ^ "Discogs". Discogs. 1971. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
- ^ Jurek, Thom (2002). "Live-Evil". In Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (eds.). All Music Guide to Jazz. Backbeat Books. p. 313. ISBN 0-87930-717-X.
- ^ a b Christgau 1981, p. 102.
- ^ a b c Alkyer, Frank; Enright, Ed; Koransky, Jason, eds. (2007). The Miles Davis Reader. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 257, 331. ISBN 978-1423430766.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
- ^ Sinclair, Tom (August 1, 1997). Review: Miles Davis live albums. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2011-02-26.
- ^ Heckman, Don (July 27, 1997). "Unleashing More of the Davis Legacy : MILES DAVIS". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ^ Holtje, Steve; Lee, Nancy Ann, eds. (1998). "Miles Davis". MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide. Music Sales Corporation. ISBN 0825672538.
- ^ Cook & Morton 1992, p. 377.
- ^ a b Schreiber, Ryan (1997). Review: Live-Evil. Pitchfork. Archived from on 2011-01-08.
- ^ Considine et al. 2004, p. 215.
- ^ Campbell, Hernan M. (April 18, 2012). "Review: Miles Davis - Live Evil". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
- ^ Carr, Ian (2009). Miles Davis: The Definitive Biography. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0786747016.
- ^ Palmer, Bob (January 20, 1972). Review: Live-Evil. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2011-01-08.
- ^ Scott, Red (September 1972). "Review: Live-Evil". Black World: 19, 86.
- ^ Davis, Erik (April 1997). "Freakin' the Funk – Revisiting Miles Davis's '70s Visions". Spin: 117.
- ^ Faust, Edwin C. (September 1, 2003). Review: Live-Evil. Stylus Magazine. Retrieved on 2011-01-08.
Bibliography
- Christgau, Robert (October 13, 1981). Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 0899190251.
- Considine, J. D.; et al. (November 2, 2004). Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (1992). The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette. Penguin Books. ISBN 0140153640.
External links
- Live-Evil at Discogs (list of releases)
- v
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recordings
- Birdland 1951
- Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4
- Miles & Coltrane
- Miles Davis Quintet at Peacock Alley
- Amsterdam Concert
- At Newport 1958
- Miles & Monk at Newport
- Jazz at the Plaza Vol. I
- Miles Davis & John Coltrane The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6
- In Person: At the Blackhawk, San Francisco
- Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall
- Miles Davis in Europe
- Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival
- My Funny Valentine
- Four & More
- Miles in Tokyo
- Miles in Berlin
- The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965
- Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1
- 1969 Miles – Festiva De Juan Pins
- Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2
- Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time
- Bitches Brew Live
- Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West
- Miles Davis at Fillmore
- Miles at the Fillmore – Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3
- The Cellar Door Sessions 1970
- Live-Evil
- In Concert
- Dark Magus
- Agharta
- Pangaea
- Miles! Miles! Miles!
- We Want Miles
- Live Around the World
- Merci Miles! Live at Vienne
- Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux
- Miles Davis and Horns
- Blue Haze
- Birth of the Cool
- Walkin'
- Miles Davis Volume 1
- Miles Davis Volume 2
- Miles Davis' Greatest Hits
- Basic Miles: The Classic Performances of Miles Davis
- Big Fun
- Get Up with It
- Water Babies
- Circle in the Round
- 1958 Miles
- Directions
- The Columbia Years 1955–1985
- Love Songs
- Super Hits
- The Essential Miles Davis
- Miles Davis Quintet: Freedom Jazz Dance: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 5
- That’s What Happened 1982-1985: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7
- The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis with John Coltrane
- Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings
- Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963–1964
- The Complete Studio Recordings of The Miles Davis Quintet 1965–1968
- The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions
- The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions
- The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions
- The Complete On the Corner Sessions
- In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete
- The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965
- The Complete Miles Davis at Montreux
- The Cellar Door Sessions 1970
- Miles Davis: The Complete Columbia Album Collection
- The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions
- Chronicle: The Complete Prestige Recordings 1951–1956
- Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969–1974
- Panthalassa: The Remixes
- Evolution of the Groove
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- "Blue in Green"
- "Boplicity"
- "Dig"
- "Donna Lee"
- "Four"
- "Flamenco Sketches"
- "Freddie Freeloader"
- "Joshua"
- "Milestones"
- "Nardis"
- "Seven Steps to Heaven"
- "So What"
- Miles Dewey Davis Jr. (father)
- Miles Davis Quintet
- Miles: The Autobiography
- Miles! The Definitive Miles Davis at Montreux DVD Collection
- That's What Happened: Live in Germany 1987
- Live in Munich (1988)
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- A Different Kind of Blue (2004 documentary)
- Miles Ahead (2015 movie)
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