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Re: BOWIE guitarists (looping) (Miles Davis, Bitches Brew)



Rev Fever wrote:

Apparently, there were some tape loops used in the recording of Miles 
Davis' 
masterpiece "Bitches Brew", an album which STILL sounds fresh even TODAY.
(Or, so I have heard...)"


Yeah,  this is documented on the extensive liner notes to the new Columbia 
edition of 'Bitches Brew'.
I've read that Miles envisioned percussion loops freeing up the whole 
ensemble in much the same way
that playing modally freed the melodic soloists from the tyranny of static 
chord progressions when he
co-wrote 'In a Silent Way'.

And it's funny,  but I've always thought that 'In A Silent Way'  was 
really 
the groundbreaking recording in the birth of fusion
NOT 'Bitches Brew'  which gets the credit for it.    It preceeded 'Bitches 
Brew' and, honestly,  I think it's a better record.
It blew my mind when I first hear it.    I didn't realize at the time that 
some of the percussion parts were looped but not
, of course, it's rather easy to hear.    I think this trancey repetitive 
thing is what drew me to it so strongly.

Of course,   none of this is live looping.

This is why I keep asking the same question:

Has anyone actually seen Adrian Belew use live looping on stage during a 
live show?
So far noone has really attested to his live looper status.

I love his music, by the way.............what a creative musician, 
whether he loops live, or not.

Rick Walker