Dark Magus – Davis, Miles – LP – Brand New Vinyl (Arrives in 20days)

It’s safe to assume no one in the audience at Carnegie Hall on
March 30, 1974 anticipated what Miles Davis would play at the
concert documented on Dark Magus. A rhythmic bonanza rooted in
Afro-centrist techniques, avante-garde sensibilities, and exploratory
moods, its songs eschew set arrangements, solos, and, for that
matter, melodic devices. Recorded near the tail end of his electric
period, the double album remains the darkest, most ferocious
statement of Davis’ career — a visionary effort that foresaw
developments in jungle, noise-rock, funk, and drum ‘n’ bass. Initially
issued in Japan in 1977, Dark Magus waited two decades for U.S.
release. Now, more than 50 years after Davis and his ensemble blew
minds at the New York venue, it gets its first-ever domestic issue on
vinyl — on a definitive-sounding pressing.
Mastered at Mobile Fidelity’s private studio, housed in a Stoughton
gatefold jacket, and pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in
California, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g 33RPM 2LP
set of Dark Magus invites you to pull up a seat and wrap your head
around an exhilarating performance that simultaneously functions
as an audition, experiment, release, and magnificent explosion of
jazz-rock fusion. It presents the improvisational magic that unfolded
onstage — the skronking tonalities, wah-wah-pedal bluster, acid-
washed effects, furious drumming, run-the-voodoo-down grooves,
menacing riffs, crashing cymbals — with incredible detail, color, and
pace. It also captures the band’s unbelievable energy, rendering
both instruments and on-the-fly changes with revealing depth,
definition, and dynamics. At its core, this audiophile set takes you
deep into the boundless mystery, promise, and uncertainty of Davis
and company’s efforts like never before. We hope your turntable and
speakers are up to the challenge.“Dark Magus” is a live double album by American jazz composer and trumpeter Miles Davis. It was recorded on March 30, 1974, at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Davis’ band included most of the members who recorded the classics “Agharta” and “Pangaea”. “Dark Magus” was produced by Teo Macero and featured four two-part recordings titled after Swahili names for the numbers one through four. “Dark Magus” is a jam record as Miles was no longer really rehearsing with his bands; they showed up and caught a whiff of what he wanted and went with the flow. There were no melodies outside of a three-note vamp on “Wili” and a few riff-oriented melodics on “Tatu” — the rest is all deep rhythm-based funk and dark groove. Greasy, mysterious, and full of dark energy.