Columbia/Legacy

Depending on your school of thought, there’s a line – starting around 1968 and the album Filles De Kilimanjaro – that separates Miles Davis fans into two camps: the cool/hard bop purists and the jazz-rock fusionists. As heavily bootlegged as Miles has been, his post- Bitches Brew “electric” period from around late 1969 until his self-imposed exile in 1975, usually gets the most attention in trading circles – primarily because there’s so much material to sift through. The thing is, Miles’ second great quintet, featuring Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams, makes distinctions like these illusory. Live at the Plugged Nickel has always been the official document of what this group was like onstage – a juggernaut of raw energy, rhythmic precision and melodic exploration. But by late 1967, after nearly three years together, they were throwing off so many sparks (thanks in large part to Williams, the 21-year-old drummer who Miles simply referred to as “the fire, the creative spark” ), it was only logical that the music would have to plug in – jazz-rock style – to keep moving forward. Collected for the first time on three CDs and one DVD, these European performances showcase an ensemble that was achieving escape velocity in acoustic jazz. Is it electric? Sure feels that way.