Miles Davis, The Fillmore West, 1970

Seeing Airto Moreira last weekend in Telluride has me going back into Miles Davis’ early 70’s stuff. Airto was percussionist on ‘Bitches Brew’ and ‘Live/Evil’, among others, and toured with Miles. I came across this 1970 show from the Fillmore West in San Francisco – a lineup which included Airto.

They were opening for another group of musicians. Who were they? Well, let’s think about this. It’s 1970. San Francisco. Who could it possibly be? You guessed right, this April night in San Francisco, Miles Davis and his crew opened for the Grateful Dead. Can you imagine?? Well, we can try our best to recreate the night 36 years later.

Here’s Miles’ set, with this lineup:

Miles Davis – trumpet
Steve Grossman – soprano saxophone
Chick Corea – electric piano
Dave Holland – bass, electric bass
Jack DeJohnette – drums
Airto Moreira – percussion

April 12, 1970
Fillmore West Auditorium
San Francisco, CA

1. It’s About That Time – 10:38
2. Directions – 11:58
3. I Fall in Love Too Easily – 1:46
4. Sanctuary – 3:46
5. Footprints – 10:23
6. Agitation – 1:46
7. No Blues – 7:40
8. Bitches Brew – 14:20
9. Spanish Key – 11:11
10. The Theme – 0:46

To round out the evening, the Dead hit the stage. Now you don’t think I’d leave you high and dry after listening to Miles and company kick off the evening, do you? The entire Dead set, my friends, is streaming right here.

Is this cool or what? But wait, there’s more (I know, I sound like an infomercial).

• Check out Dark Funk for 3 more full Miles shows from ’68 and ’69.
• Also check out MoogPower for ‘Panthalassa’, a Bill Laswell mixed album of Miles’ early 70’s stuff. Very cool.
• Look into Miles’ music on Amazon. I recommend this.