Description

Black Beauty, Miles Davis At Fillmore West, was recorded on April 10, 1970 at Fillmore West, San Francisco, when Davis performed as the opening act for the Grateful Dead. The recording took place shortly after the release of Miles’ classic album Bitches Brew. The album was released in 1973, originally in Japan only.

Black Beauty, a true jazz-rock album, captured one of Davis’ first performances at a rock venue during the early stages of his electric period. At the concert, he led his band (saxophonist Steve Grossman, bassist Dave Holland, keyboardist Chick Corea, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and percussionist Airto Moreira) through one continuously performed set list.

The songs in the band’s set list were as followed: “Directions”, “Miles Runs the Voodoo Down”, “Willie Nelson”, “I Fall In Love Too Easily”, “Sanctuary”, “It’s About That Time”, “Bitches Brew”, “Masqualero”, “Spanish Key”, and “The Theme”. They were performed as one continuous and uninterrupted piece of music, a practice Davis had begun in 1967. He later explained in his autobiography that performing these kinds of long musical suites without breaks allowed more space for improvisations in concert.