''Live-Evil'' is an album of both

live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

and

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

recordings by American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musician

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

. Parts of the album featured music from Davis' concert at

the Cellar Door The Cellar Door was a 163-seat music club located at 34th & M Street NW in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. from 1964 through January 7, 1982. It occupied the location of a former music club called The Shadows. One of the premie ...

in 1970, which producer

Teo Macero Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero (October 30, 1925 – February 19, 2008) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years. Macero produced Miles Davis' ''Bitches Brew'', and Dave ...

subsequently edited and pieced together in the studio. They were performed as lengthy, dense

jams Jams or JAMS may refer to: *Plural form of jam, a type of fruit preserve *Jams (clothing line) *JAMS (organization), United States organization that provides alternative dispute resolution services *The JAMs, former name of The KLF, a British band ...

in the

jazz-rock Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

style, while the studio recordings consisted mostly of renditions of

Hermeto Pascoal Hermeto Pascoal (born June 22, 1936) is a Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist. He was born in Lagoa da Canoa, Alagoas, Brazil. Pascoal is a significant figure in the history of Brazilian music, mainly known for his abilities in orches ...

compositions. The album was originally released on November 17, 1971.

Background

A number of famous jazz musicians feature on the album, including

Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American jazz and classical music pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also been a ...

and

Jack DeJohnette Jack DeJohnette (born August 9, 1942) is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. Known for his extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians including Charles Lloyd, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, John Abercrombie, ...

. One of the key musicians on the album,

John McLaughlin John or Jon McLaughlin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John McLaughlin (musician) (born 1942), English jazz fusion guitarist, member of Mahavishnu Orchestra * Jon McLaughlin (musician) (born 1982), American singer-songwriter * John McLaug ...

, 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" on the previous nights. Davis had originally intended the album to be a spiritual successor to ''

Bitches Brew ''Bitches Brew'' is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was recorded from August 19 to 21, 1969, at Columbia's Studio B in New York City and released on March 30, 1970 by Columbia Records. It marke ...

'', but this idea was abandoned when it became obvious that ''Live-Evil'' was "something completely different".

Cover artwork

The album cover was illustrated by artist

Mati Klarwein Abdul Mati Klarwein (April 9, 1932 – March 7, 2002) was a French painter of German origin best known for his works used on the covers of music albums. Personal life Mati Klarwein was born in Hamburg, Germany. His mother Elsa Kühne was an ...

. 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 ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...
'' which had
J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation � ...
on the cover, and he just looked like a toad. I told Miles I found the toad."

Record club pressings of the album simply had the album title printed on a black cover.

Critical reception

''Live-Evil'' was released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in 1971 to critical acclaim. In a contemporary review for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', 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".Palmer, Bob (January 20, 1972)
Review: ''Live-Evil''
''

''. Retrieved on 2011-01-08. ''

Black World Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have of ...

'' critic Red Scott remarked that all of ''Live-Evil''s songs "fuse into a perfect complement of musicians passing moods to each other".Scott, Red (September 1972).
Review: ''Live-Evil''
. ''

'': 19, 86.

Pete Welding Peter John Welding (15 November 1935 – 17 November 1995) was an American historian, archivist, and record producer specializing in jazz and blues. Born in Philadelphia, United States, Welding worked as a journalist for ''Down Beat'' magazine and ...

from ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' 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". The magazine's

John Corbett John Joseph Corbett Jr. (born May 9, 1961) is an American actor and country music singer. On television, he is best known for his roles as Chris Stevens on ''Northern Exposure'' (1990–1995), Aidan Shaw on ''Sex and the City'' (2000–2003), ...

later called ''Live-Evil'' "an outstandingly creative electric collage", while

Erik Davis Erik Davis (born June 12, 1967) is an American writer, scholar, journalist and public speaker whose writings have ranged from rock criticism to cultural analysis to creative explorations of esoteric mysticism. He is perhaps best known for his b ...

from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' found the music "kinetic" and described McLaughlin's playing as "Hindu heavy-metal fretwork".Davis, Erik (April 1997).
Freakin' the Funk – Revisiting Miles Davis's '70s Visions
. ''

'': 117. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

''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".

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

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 Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

experiments", while "Selim" and "Nem Um Talvez" appropriately "hark back to the late '50s". Edwin C. Faust from ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

'' 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 ''Sketches of Spain'' is an album by Miles Davis, recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 at the Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City. An extended version of the second movement of Joaquín Rodrigo's ''Concierto de Aranjuez'' (1939) ...

'' comes to mind) while the bass creeps cautiously, an organ hums tensly, and human whistles/vocals float about forebodingly like wistful phantoms".Faust, Edwin C. (September 1, 2003)
Review: ''Live-Evil''

. Retrieved on 2011-01-08.

Track listing

Personnel and recording sources

The live tracks on ''Live-Evil'' were truncated edits of various live jams recorded at

The Cellar Door The Cellar Door was a 163-seat music club located at 34th & M Street NW in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. from 1964 through January 7, 1982. It occupied the location of a former music club called The Shadows. One of the premie ...

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 ''The Cellar Door Sessions 1970'' is a boxed live album released in 2005. It was recorded over several nights in 1970 at the Washington D. C. nightclub The Cellar Door. Despite similar formatting to The Miles Davis Series of box sets, it is no ...

''). Side one (25:50)
1. "Sivad" (15:13)
''(Recorded December 19, 1970 at The Cellar Door, Washington, DC & May 19, 1970 at Columbia Studio B, New York, NY)'' *

- electric trumpet with wah-wah *

Gary Bartz Gary Bartz (born September 26, 1940) is an American jazz saxophonist. He has won two Grammy Awards. Biography Bartz studied at the Juilliard School. In the early 1960s, he performed with Eric Dolphy and McCoy Tyner in Charles Mingus' Jazz Works ...

- soprano and alto saxophone *

- electric guitar *

- electric piano, organ *

Michael Henderson Michael Earl Henderson (July 7, 1951 – July 19, 2022) was an American bass guitarist and vocalist. He was known for his work with Miles Davis in the early 1970s and on early fusion albums such as '' Jack Johnson'', '' Live-Evil'', and '' Agh ...

- electric bass *

- drums *

Airto Moreira Airto Guimorvan Moreira (born August 5, 1941) is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. He is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. Coming to prominence in the late 1960s as a member of the ...

- percussion 2. "Little Church" (3:14)
''(Recorded June 4, 1970 at Columbia Studio B, New York, NY)'' *

- trumpet * Steve Grossman - soprano saxophone *

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", " 500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and ...

- electric piano *

- organ *

- electric guitar *

Dave Holland David “Dave” Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years. His extensive discography r ...

- electric bass, acoustic bass *

- drums *

- percussion *

- drums, whistling, voice, electric piano 3. "Medley: Gemini/Double Image" (5:53)
''(Recorded February 6, 1970 at Columbia Studio B, New York, NY)'' *

- trumpet *

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Davi ...

- soprano saxophone *

Joe Zawinul Josef Erich Zawinul ( '; 7 July 1932 – 11 September 2007) was an Austrian jazz and jazz fusion keyboardist and composer. First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with Miles Davis and to bec ...

- electric piano *

- electric guitar *

- acoustic bass *

Khalil Balakrishna Khalil Balakrishna is a sitar and tanpura player who worked with Miles Davis between 1969 and 1974. Guitarist John McLaughlin, already interested in Indian music, suggested him and tabla player Bihari Sharma to Davis during the ''Bitches Brew'' se ...

- electric sitar *

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian Americans, Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was indu ...

- drums *

- percussion Side two (25:12)
1. "What I Say" (21:09)
''(Recorded December 19, 1970 at The Cellar Door, Washington, DC)'' *

- electric trumpet with wah-wah *

- soprano and alto saxophone *

- electric guitar *

- electric piano, organ *

- electric bass *

- drums *

- percussion 2. "Nem Um Talvez" (4:03)
''(Recorded June 3, 1970 at Columbia Studio B, New York, NY)'' *

- trumpet * Steve Grossman - soprano saxophone *

- electric piano *

- organ *

Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded nu ...

- acoustic bass *

- drums *

- percussion *

- drums, vocals Side three (25:38)
1. "Selim" (2:12)
''(Recorded June 3, 1970 at Columbia Studio B, New York, NY)'' *

- trumpet * Steve Grossman - soprano saxophone *

- electric piano *

- organ *

- acoustic bass *

- drums *

- percussion *

- drums, vocals 2. "Funky Tonk" (23:26)
''(Recorded December 19, 1970 at The Cellar Door, Washington, DC)'' *

- electric trumpet with wah-wah *

- soprano and alto saxophone *

- electric guitar *

- electric piano, organ *

- electric bass *

- drums *

- percussion Side four (26:29)
1. "Inamorata and Narration by Conrad Roberts" (26:29)
''(Recorded December 19, 1970 at The Cellar Door, Washington, DC)'' *

- electric trumpet with wah-wah *

- soprano and alto saxophone *

- electric guitar *

- electric piano, organ *

- electric bass *

- drums *

- percussion *

Conrad Roberts Conrad Roberts is an Antiguan-American actor who has appeared in several television series and films over the past forty years. His most recent film was ''A Wrinkle In Time''. Career He first began his career in March 1968 when he was cast as "E ...

- vocal narration, poem ''Note:

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.''

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Live-Evil (Miles Davis Album) 1971 albums Columbia Records albums Miles Davis albums Jazz fusion albums by American artists Jazz-funk albums Albums produced by Teo Macero 1971 live albums Live jazz fusion albums Live jazz-funk albums Columbia Records live albums Legacy Recordings albums Legacy Recordings live albums Albums with cover art by Mati Klarwein

Background

Cover artwork

Critical reception

Track listing

Personnel and recording sources

See also

References

Bibliography

External links