Miles left jazz critics in the dust when his band started using electric instruments in 1969 - mainly keyboards, bass and guitar.
Firstly with the In A Silent Way album, closely followed by Bitches Brew and Tribute To Jack Johnson.
These albums and subsequent others featured the soaring playing of Yorkshire guitarist John McLaughlin, which is why we're here..

McLaughlin's career started when he went to London in the late 1950s to look for playing opportunities, starting off with a trad jazz outfit. Along the way he played with Clapton, Graham Bond and Ginger Baker, but eventually it became a hand-to-mouth existence and he had to take on sessions with pop singers - Tom Jones, Englebert Humperdinck, Petula Clark etc. He found this very unsatisfying musically and gave up, discouraged, returning to Doncaster to stay with his mum.

Then, during a short period playing free jazz in Germany, he heard from his friend, bassist Dave Holland, who had recently been summoned to play with Miles Davis in New York. Holland said that Miles' drummer, Tony Williams, was starting his own band and wanted John to join.
So, early in 1969 McLaughlin ended up in New York playing with Tony Williams' band Lifetime, and was then quickly poached to play on Miles Davis sessions, an astonishing experience for a European jazz player.

On the first day with Miles, they recorded In A Silent Way. McLaughlin was so nervous he was drenched with sweat, and had to ask Miles what to play. Miles told him, “Play it like you don’t know how to play the guitar.”

Miles gave John his head after that and the tracks on this compilation are chock-full of searing and exhilarating guitar work. As Miles says at some point here, "That's some raunchy shit John!" More details on the tracklisting below.

I haven't included tunes from In A Silent Way, my gateway to Miles' electric years (and still one of my top albums) - as that's best experienced as a separate album.

1. Maiysha - 5.07 (edit) 7 Oct 1974 - Get Up With It 2xCD

2. Duran take 4 - 5.39 17 March 1970 - Complete Jack Johnson Sessions 5xCD

3. On The Corner early take - 5.15 1 June 1972 - Complete On The Corner Sessions 6xCD

4. Duran take 6 - 11.27 17 March 1970 - Complete Jack Johnson Sessions 5xCD

5. Double Image – 5.52 28 Jan 1970 – Bitches Brew 4CD (Holland, Cobham, DeJohnette, Corea, Zawinul. Maupin, Shorter, John McLaughlin, Moreira)

6. Go Ahead John Part Two A - 7.02 3 March 1970 - Complete Jack Johnson Sessions 5xCD

7. Agharta excerpt – 5.09 1 Feb 1975, Osaka Festival Hall, afternoon(McLaughlin isn't on this session, but you can hear his legacy)

8. Medley: Gemini / Double Image 5.51 6 February 1970 - Live Evil 2xLP

9. On The Corner (edit) - 8.38 1 June 1972 - On The Corner CD

Ver todos los episodios