Corrado (1969). Miles Davis

I'm working my way through The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions. On four of the outtakes, Great Expectations, Orange Lady, Yaphet, and Corrado, the band includes sitar and tabla or tamboura and on Lonely Fire and Guinnevere (the David Crosby song), sitar. I wasn't expecting that.

The liner notes suggest Corrado is a blues-like drone.

Wikipedia on producer Teo Macero's role on the recording:

Some might argue Teo Macero deserves much of the credit for Bitches Brew. His contributions were sometimes controversial, certainly important, and perhaps invaluable.

There was significant editing done to the recorded music. Short sections were spliced together to create longer pieces, and various effects were applied to the recordings.

And I never heard this connection before:

Davis's later forays into electric fusion, such as In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, and A Tribute to Jack Johnson, were highlighted by Macero's innovative mixing and editing techniques. These were inspired partially by Macero's association with influential avant-garde composer Edgard Varèse, one of the innovators of taped electronic music.

The track also has Miles as a whispery crank at the beginning:

Teo: Ok, is this going to be part two?

Miles: It's going to be part nine. What difference does it make?

Teo: Alright, alright. Here we go, standby. This is part something.

iTunes

Comments

[Richard Friedman]

Teo Macero was an influential force in NY jazz scene in the 60's. Bernstein and the NY Phil even played an orchestral piece of his, but I've forgotten its name or what it sounded like. All I remember is that it was a jazz fusion piece with a jazz combo on stage with the orchestra, and it was very much in the style of Maynard Ferguson.

Macero's name turned up a lot. And apparently he's still active. See
http://www.teorecords.com/

It's clear that someone had to be at the controls during Miles' Bitches Brew sessions. This was a time when tape manipulation in the studio was all the rage. The Beatles had just discovered what they could do with it.

[Richard Friedman]

But I forgot to mention that Macero's connection with Varese isn't strange, since Varese's recordings came out on Columbia and I wouldn't be surprised if Macero was involved with those releases.