Every jazz fan has their favorite Miles period, I'm probably in the minority but I'll take his electric phase from '68-75 which expanded his amazing skills by importing the energy of rock and funk. For studio albums I can turn to A Tribute to Jack Johnson and the haunting Bitches Brew but in that elusive mystical live moment Dark Magus rumbles to the front of the pack. As a kid who grew up on Heavy Metal and Hip Hop it was shocking to find a live recording from a stuffy hallowed hall that was so bad ass residing in the jazz realm; my ears and mind were forever opened. 

"I'll play it first and tell you what it is later." —Miles Davis

One of the 50 Heaviest Albums Of All Time- Q Magazine

Jazz arrives in all forms but one thing is for certain; it lives in the moment. When that moment is at the hallowed Carnegie Hall and the performance is recorded for a live release you would think the stakes would be highest, not a time to audition two new band members....but that was exactly what  Miles Davis did on March 30, 1974.  

Miles Davis had played the venue numerous times before and even recorded a live album there in 1961 so this time around some scene setting is in order. 1974 was close to the end for Miles (or at least one career end) as four constant years of touring had caught up to him. Davis was dealing with a litany of issues including severe drug abuse, a variety of serious health concerns and burnout all of which would contribute to him retiring in 1975.  At the age of 48 he seemed finished, Miles wouldn't record new material until cleaning up again in 1981.

During the '74 tour Davis was light years from his cool jazz roots and neck deep in electric mayhem. Using rock and funk as catalysts/inspiration for his musical adventures he disregarded individual songs for extended movements in the vein of Karlheinz Stockhausen. Davis had given Stockhausen credit on the1972 album On The Corner which was not his most popular and had fans wondering where Davis would go next.

On this night in Manhattan, Davis would go where the other worldly groove took him and then beyond.

Gratefully, it was captured and eventually birthed as Dark Magus. As an album it is an odd duck being quietly released only to be rediscovered and appreciated much later, a key reason this major artist is being profiled in this series. The cover image is an enigma, it is hard to make out anything more then shapes and colors, possibly Davis in tripped out profile on the far right. This does perfect justice to the music contained within. 

Things are fuzzy, fluid, hard to pin down but vibrant, scary and exotic. The title of the disk came about when the record company was preparing for it's 1977 release to take place only in Japan, Dark Magus was suggested by an A&R executive and stuck. Davis was not active (having already retired) in the sale of the album and it was never even released in the USA until 20 years later in 1997 as a 2 disk CD.

It is a shame it remained hidden so long as the power here is undeniable, it even made some prominent critics best of list when it finally found the US market. The grooves alone are some of the hardest in jazz (can they even be called that) as the band rambles along like an elephant who decided to stampeded into an unsuspecting village while listening to the funkiest of cuts on giant headphones.

The main players are as follows: Davis on electric trumpet and Yamaha organ, Dave Liebman – soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, Pete Cosey – electric guitar, Reggie Lucas – electric guitar, Michael Henderson – electric bass, Al Foster – drums, James Mtume Foreman – percussion

With his road tested band cooking Davis threw a curve ball that saxophonist Liebman described as typical Miles for the big gigs, two brand new players were auditioned during a live recording in one of the most famous venues in the world.

Azar Lawrence - tenor saxophone and Dominique Gaumont – electric guitar, both got their break to play with the outfit on this night; it is hard to think of a bigger trial by fire then that. 

Without typical songs to work with the tracks played that night, which became Dark Magus, are focused around 25 minute outings that on the 1997 CD release are broken up about midway for sequencing. Titled "Moja", "Wili", "Tatu" and "Nne" after the Swahili numbers 1 through 4, the African vibe permeates as Davis and company swirl around Jazz, Rock, Funk, splashing all three together in haunting outer space ways. 

All of the music feels alive and dangerous as the best should. Davis was not in a particularly active trumpet mood this evening allowing for the trio of guitarists to augment the bass and percussion while he played with textures on his Yamaha organ. The sax players pepper the attack then soothe, all contributing gorgeous layers to the playing  and elevating the ensemble as they mix with pedal effects and the odd trumpet blare above the monster rhythms.

It wasn't going to be your typical night of jazz at Carnegie Hall, this is wild stuff and "Moja" signals that immediately blasting out of the gate with cymbals slamming and wah-wah wailing; this should be played loud.  "Wili" gets a thick as molasses combo of drums and bass rolling on and on while the other players add their own cosmic treats to the stew.   

Guitars get fuzzy for "Tatu" as the playing becomes freaky, giving way to a mixing of trumpet, guitar tricks and saxophone wails that intermingle like long extinct pterodactyls squeals. "Nne" gives hints of "Ife" but things are just as apt to jump off the rails and drive deep in grimy directions.    

The sounds flow in and out effortlessly and at times with seemingly no pattern except for the one in Davis' head. The almighty, meaty groove however keeps flowing tying it all together, pushing this night above other Davis electric outings in my book. Drummer Al Foster deserves special attention as he pummeled his drum kit furiously, Davis commented that "Al could set it up for everybody else to play-off and just keep the groove going forever" and that is just what he did here leading some later day critics to point to this disk as one of the beginnings of the Jungle/Drum & Bass sound. 

As for those two auditioned new members? Gaumont would stick around and record with Davis on his pre-retirement release Get Up With It, but this was the lone Miles contribution for Lawrence who did go on to his own successful jazz career however. It is doubtful he ever forgot this insane night in NYC that became the magical Dark Magus though.

Preview the recordings of Miles Davis Dark Magus online:

• Moja Part 1
• Tatu Part 1

Borrow More Miles Davis Material from NYPL:

• Bitches Brew
• Miles Davis The Complete Illustrated History 
• All Miles Davis in the NYPL Catalog