The 40th anniversary of the groundbreaking fusion album Bitches Brew offers an opportunity to expand upon the context of its original unveiling. The impact of this recognition can't even be mitigated by a collision of commerce and creativity that echoes some of the furor over the original 1970 release. The unreleased studio recordings (not included on the previously issued Complete Bitches Brew from 1998) are alternates take, one of which ("John McLaughlin") isn't appreciably different from the official take, while the other ("Spanish Key") moves a little too fast for its own good. Similarly, the two stereo and two mono 45 single edits, for all their brevity, do manage to capture as much of the album's haunting atmosphere as their truncated likes can hold. The August 1970 concert live recording of Davis and his band at Tanglewood, in Lenox, Massachussetts, displays the bravado the trumpeter would always bring to his rock star co-billings, on this date, Santana at the height of the original lineup's powers.
- Miles Davis: trumpet;
- Wayne Shorter, Steve Grossman: soprano saxophone;
- Bennie Maupin: bass clairnet;
- Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, Larry Young, Herbie Hancock: electric piano;
- John McLaughlin: guitar;
- Dave Holland, Ron Carter: bass;
- Harvey Brooks: electric bass;
- Lenny White, Jack DeJohnette, Billy Cobham: drums;
- Don Alias: congas;
- Jumma Santos: shaker;
- Khalil Balakrishna: sitar;
- Bihari Sharma: tamboura, tabla;
- Airto Moreira: cuica, berimbau.
Disc 1:
01. Pharaoh's Dance (20:06)
02. Bitches Brew (27:01)
03. Spanish Key (17:35)
04. John Mclaughlin (4:23)
Disc 2:
01. Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (14:04)
02. Sanctuary (10:59)
03. Spanish Key (Alternate Take) (10:23)
04. John McLaughlin (Alternate Take) (6:41)
05. Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (Stereo Single) (2:51)
06. Spanish Key (Stereo Single) (2:51)
07. Great Expectations (Mono Single) (2:43)
08. Little Blue Frog (Mono Single) (2:37)
Disc 3:
01. Bill Graham Intro (Tanglewood) (0:13)
02. Directions (Tanglewood) (9:32)
03. Bitches Brew (Tanglewood) (9:15)
04. The Mask (Tanglewood) (3:55)
05. It's About That Time (Tanglewood) (7:30)
06. Sanctuary (Tanglewood) (1:36)
07. Spanish Key/ The Theme (Tanglewood) (6:33)
08. Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (Tanglewood) (4:40)
09. Bill Graham Outro (Tanglewood) (0:22)
