It’s About That Time: Complete Concerts On “Miles at the Fillmore” Box Set Chronicle Davis’ Rock Revolution

Between June 17 and 20, 1970, the fresh musical possibilities of a new decade were on vivid display in New York City’s East Village when the bill at the Fillmore East was shared by two titanic talents on the Columbia Records roster – Miles Davis and Laura Nyro.  Though the pairing might seem an incongruous one, both Davis and Nyro shared an affinity for pushing the envelope and synthesizing various genres into a singular style of music that was easily identifiable as their own.  Davis’ stand as Nyro’s opening act was first released in October 1970 as Miles Davis at Fillmore, a 2-LP set which contained edited highlights from the four nights of performances.  Now, as the third installment of Davis’ acclaimed Bootleg Series, Columbia and Legacy Recordings are issuing his complete Fillmore East shows.  The 4-CD box set due on March 25 premieres more than 100 minutes of previously unreleased music, and as a special bonus, adds three bonus tracks (and another 35 minutes of never-before-released music) from Davis’ April 1970 stint at Bill Graham’s Fillmore West in San Francisco on a bill with Stone the Crows and the Grateful Dead.

When Davis took the stage at the Fillmore East, he was riding high on the success of the April 1970 release of Bitches Brew.  The groundbreaking electric LP would become the trumpeter’s first gold record, and win him a Grammy Award as well.  Davis was leading a group including Chick Corea on electric piano, Dave Holland on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums as well as tenor and soprano saxophonist Steve Grossman and percussionist/flautist/vocalist Airto Moreira.   Corea, Holland and DeJohnette all played on Bitches Brew; Grossman and Moreira had been joining Davis in the studio since November 1969 and joined his touring line-up in February and April 1970, respectively.  At the Fillmore East, this all-star aggregation was joined by Keith Jarrett on organ and tambourine, part of the blazing three-month period when both Jarrett and Corea played keyboards for Davis. Jarrett continued in the band until late 1971, and also performed with Davis at his two later Fillmore dates in San Francisco in October 1970 and May 1971.

After the jump, we have the full details on this new set, including the complete track listing and pre-order links!