Pete Cosey

[Dave Stagner <dstagner@icarus.net>]

On Sat, 22 Nov 1997, Jeff Schwartz wrote:

> Who's got a copy of this? I'm a freak for Pete Cosey's 
> playing & want to hear as much as I can. Here's what I 
> know of:
> Muddy Waters-Electric Mud
> Miles Davis-Agharta, Pangea, Dark Magus, Get Up with It, 
> En Concert avec Europe1, Call it what it is, Berlin '73, 
> Another Bitches Brew
> Mtume-Rebirth Cycle
> Herbie Hancock-Future Shock
> I know there was a Howlin' Wolf Electric Wolf album, don't 
> know if Pete was on it, but I think so.
> So is that it? The entire Pete Cosey discography?

Guitar Player had an interview with Pete Cosey some years ago, after he
replaced Bill Frissell in Power Tools.  He talked about the Electric Mud
and Electric Wolf albums... apparently, Muddy Waters was a little weirded
out by the Electric Mud idea (a psychedelic rock band backing Muddy
Waters), but he was a nice guy about it, and the record sold well.  So the
label wanted to do Electric Wolf next, with Howlin' Wolf.  Now, Howlin'
Wolf has been called many things, but "nice" ain't one of them.  Now, this
was the late 1960s, and Cosey had the full psychedelic look and sound
going.  After the first session, Howlin' Wolf walked up to him and said
"Why don't you take them pedals and shit and throw 'em in the river on the
way to the barbershop?"  Cosey was *crushed*.  Everything he stood for had
just been ground under Howlin' Wolf's shoes with a single sentence.  Some
story, huh?

And yes, I'm a HUGE Cosey fan!  Although not a looper type (at least not
the stuff I've heard), he was one of the most creative and powerful
psychedelic guitarists EVER.  Find a copy of Miles Davis' "Agharta" or
"Phaedra".  You won't be sorry.  I consider those discs the end of Miles'
career... what he did in the 1980s just doesn't count.  

Another audiophile historic note... Cosey had a unique role in Miles'
band.  Miles Davis, of course, was a genius at finding powerful players
and making the most of them in a group setting.  At the time, Miles was
heavily into funk and West African music.  His lineup consisted of an
African percussionist, rock drummer, electric bass, and wah-wah funk
guitar in the rhythm section, holding down powerful one and two-chord
vamps and grooves, while the soloists blew over the top.  The interesting
thing about Cosey was that he NEVER practiced with the band.  Mile's
orders.  He only played with them live.  His playing was so startling, so
*out*, that his presence changed the very nature of the band.  Using him
as a live soloist and texturalist kept the band on their toes.  It also
shows just how much Miles Davis respected his playing.

Anyway... if you like heavy funk grooves and profoundly psychedelic
guitar, check out the Miles/Cosey work.  Don't expect some nice happy
dance funk here... this work is as dark and dangerous as the heart of
Africa.  Beautiful, and awe-inspiring. 

-dave

By "beauty," I mean that which seems complete.
Obversely, that the incomplete, or the mutilated, is the ugly. 
Venus De Milo.
To a child she is ugly.       /* dstagner@icarus.net */
   -Charles Fort