Agharta

Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet, organ); Sonny Fortune (soprano & alto saxophones, flute); Pete Cosey (synthesizer, guitar, percussion); Reggie Lucas (guitar); Michael Henderson (electric bass); Al Foster (drums); Mtume (congas, water drum, rhythm box, percussion).
Producer: Teo Macero.
Reissue producer: Mike Berniker.
Recorded live at Osaka Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan on February 1, 1975. Includes liner notes by Lee Jeske.
Digitally remastered by Larry Keyes (CBS Records Studios, New York, New York).
Often derided or misunderstood during the time of their original release, Miles Davis' numerous releases following BITCHES BREW are now recognized for their startlingly unconventional beauty. Drawing on rock and funk, Miles unflinchingly followed his muse into the subtle dynamics to be found in hypnotically relentless repetition overlaid with fiery soloing.
This hundred-minute, two-disc set was recorded live in Japan in 1975 and finds Miles trading solos with saxophonist Sonny Fortune over an undulating rhythm thicket of two guitars, electric bass, drums and conga/percussion. Miles punctuates the proceedings and takes the ensemble on abrupt turns in the road with organ stabs and swells. Not for the faint of heart, this is as bracing and dazzling as waves breaking over a spit of shoreline, or fireworks exploding on all sides of you at once.