Miles Davis Jams on 'Spanish Key' in 1970 New box set has every minute of his Fillmore residency
By James Sullivan
January 22, 2014
Miles at The FilmoreCourtesy Legacy RecordingsIt's not often that the opening act on a four-night run gets a massive four-disc box set out of the gig, but Miles Davis was no ordinary opening act. In June 1970, fresh off the release of his game-changing double album Bitches Brew, the trumpeter and his six-piece band were booked into Bill Graham's Fillmore East in New York, where they opened for songwriter Laura Nyro. (She had a load of hits on the charts at the time; look her up, young'uns.)
Davis' hot, surging sets were condensed into the double LP Miles Davis at the Fillmore, which came out later that year. Now Columbia/Legacy is set to release the entire unedited residency, with more than 100 minutes of previously unreleased music and bonus tracks from the group's appearance at the San Francisco Fillmore that April. In a rare interview after hearing the Fillmore East recordings, Davis suggested he wanted "every note" of the sessions made available to listeners. More than 20 years after his death in 1991, he's finally getting his wish.