Bitches Brew

album by Davis

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July 16, 2026

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Bitches Brew is a seminal 1970 album by American jazz musician Miles Davis. It is considered a landmark recording in the jazz fusion genre, blending jazz improvisation with the rhythms and electronic instrumentation of rock music.12

The album was a departure from Davis's previous work, including the acclaimed Kind of Blue (1959), and alienated some jazz purists while attracting new fans. Bitches Brew is characterized by its complex, layered soundscapes, extended improvisations, and experimental studio techniques. It featured a large ensemble of musicians, including keyboardists Chick Corea and Joe Zawinul, and guitarist John McLaughlin.12

Bitches Brew was added to the U.S. Library of Congress's National Recording Registry in 2025, recognizing its significant cultural, historical, and aesthetic impact.1

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Miles Davis
Free jazz and fusion
…ones with the release of Bitches Brew (1970), an album on which he fully embraced the rhythms, electronic instrumentation, and studio effects of rock music. (Davis’s brief marriage to the model and singer-songwriter Betty Mabry in 1968 had opened up new vistas for him; she inspired him to adopt a…
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…ones with the release of Bitches Brew (1970), an album on which he fully embraced the rhythms, electronic instrumentation, and studio effects of rock music. (Davis’s brief marriage to the model and singer-songwriter Betty Mabry in 1968 had opened up new vistas for him; she inspired him to adopt a…
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John McLaughlin
…In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew (both 1969) and played in Tony Williams’s seminal jazz-rock trio Lifetime. In 1970 he became a disciple of spiritual guru Sri Chinmoy; he acquired the name Mahavishnu and formed the Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1971. The Orchestra was initially a quintet noted for radically…
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…In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew (both 1969) and played in Tony Williams’s seminal jazz-rock trio Lifetime. In 1970 he became a disciple of spiritual guru Sri Chinmoy; he acquired the name Mahavishnu and formed the Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1971. The Orchestra was initially a quintet noted for radically…
Read More