Big Fun (Miles Davis album): Difference between revisions

Big Fun
Big Fun
Compilation album by Miles Davis
Released	April 19, 1974
Recorded	November 19, 28, 1969; February 6, 1970; March 3, 1970; and June 12, 1972
Studio	Columbia 52nd Street (New York City)
Genre	Jazz-fusion
Length	98:45
Label	Columbia
Producer	Teo Macero
Miles Davis chronology

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Big Fun is an album by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis.^[2] It was released by Columbia Records on April 19, 1974, and compiled recordings Davis had made in sessions between 1969 and 1972. It was advertised as a new album with "four new Miles Davis compositions" ^[3] One of three Davis albums released in 1974 and largely ignored, it was reissued on August 1, 2000, by Columbia and Legacy Records with additional material, which led to a critical reevaluation.

Background and recording

Big Fun presents music from three phases of Miles Davis's early-seventies "electric" period. The album is named for a composition Davis recorded in 1973, but it was not released until 2007 on the box set The Complete On the Corner Sessions.

Sides one and four ("Great Expectations/Orange Lady" and "Lonely Fire") were recorded three months after the Bitches Brew sessions and incorporate sitar, tambura, tabla, and other Indian instruments. They also mark the first time since the beginning of Miles Davis's electric period that he played his trumpet with the Harmon mute which had been one of his hallmarks, making it sound much like the sitar. This contributed to creating a very clear and lean sound, highlighting both the high and low registers, as opposed to the busier sound of Bitches Brew which placed more emphasis on the middle and low registers.

"Ife"—named after James Mtume's daughter^[4]—was recorded after the 1972 On the Corner sessions, and the framework is similar to tracks from that record. It has a drum and electric bass groove (which in fact at one point breaks down due to mistiming) and a plethora of musicians improvising individually and in combinations over variations on the bassline.

"Go Ahead John"

Recording

"Go Ahead John"

The recording has a strong groove and was titled by Davis as an exhortation to his guitar player John McLaughlin.^[5]

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Recorded on March 3, 1970,^[6] "Go Ahead John" is an outtake from Davis's Jack Johnson sessions.^[7] The recording is a riff and groove-based, with a relatively sparser line-up of Steve Grossman on soprano saxophone, Dave Holland on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and John McLaughlin on guitar with wah-wah pedal.^[7]^[8] It was one of the rare occasions in which Davis recorded without a musical keyboard.^[6] It was recorded in five sections, ranging from three to 13 minutes, which producer Teo Macero subsequently assembled in post-production four years later for Big Fun.^[6] DeJohnette provides a funky, complex groove, Holland plays bass with one constant note repeated, and McLaughlin plays in a staccato style with blues and funk elements.^[6] According to one music writer, the track's bass parts has "a trancelike drone that maintains" the predominantly Eastern vibe of the album.^[9]

DeJohnette's drums were manipulated by Macero, who used an automatic switcher to have them rattle back and forth between the left and right speakers on the recording.^[6] In his book Running the Voodoo Down: The Electric Music of Miles Davis, Davis-biographer Phil Freeman describes this technique as "100 percent Macero" and writes of its significance to the track as a whole, stating:

This doesn't create the effect of two drummers. It's just disorienting, throwing the ear off balance in a way that forces the listener to pay close attention. The drums cease to perform their traditional function. Jack DeJohnette's beats, funky and propulsive on the session tapes, are so chopped up that their timekeeping utility is virtually nil. Macero has diced the rhythm so adroitly that we are not even permitted to hear an entire drum hit or hi-hat crash. All that remains are clicks and whooshes, barely identifiable as drums and, again, practically useless as rhythmic indicators. Thus, the pace is maintained by Dave Holland's one-note throb and the occasional descending blues progression he plays. The feeling one gets from "Go Ahead John" becomes one of floating in space.^[10]

Davis's trumpet and McLaughlin's guitar parts were heavily overdubbed for the recording.^[11] The overdubbing effect was created by superimposing part of Davis's trumpet solo onto other parts of it, through something Teo Macero calls a "recording loop". Macero later said of this production technique, "You hear the two parts and it's only two parts, but the two parts become four and they become eight parts. This was done over in the editing room and it just adds something to the music [...] I called [Davis] in and I said, 'Come in, I think we've got something you'll like. We'll try it on and if you like it you've got it.' He came in and flipped out. He said it was one of the greatest things he ever heard".^[12]

Composition

Titled as an exhortation by Davis to McLaughlin,^[5] "Go Ahead John" features a basic blues motif, centered around E and B♭, as well as modulations introduced by Davis into the D♭ scale.^[7] The recording begins with McLaughlin's funky wah-wah lines, backing Grossman's sharp, restrained playing, with Davis's first trumpet solo entering at four minutes with scattered ideas.^[6]^[8] In his book Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis, Jack Chambers writes that the recording's first 11 minutes and its closing four-and-a-half minutes "resemble Willie Nelson [from Jack Johnson] as a head arrangement built on a riff, with the riff sustained this time by McLaughlin's steady wah-wah in the background.^[12] Approximately six minutes into it, McLaughlin's guitar solo succeeds Davis's first solo, as the band vamps.^[6] Music journalist Todd S. Jenkins writes of this passage in the recording, "Thanks to the then-new wonders of noise gate technology, Jack DeJohnette’s drums and cymbals flit back and forth rapidly from left to right in the mix. With each switch, the guitar’s volume blasts in and out, over and over again, during McLaughlin’s relentlessly acidic solo".^[8] Following the passage, an unrelated theme opens with two minutes of a slow blues segment by Davis that is spliced into the recording, accompanied solely by occasional notes from Holland; According to Jack Chambers, Davis's blues solo "becomes a duet with himself by overdubbing, and then builds into a quintet performance lasting ten more minutes".^[12] Phil Freeman wrote of this "doubling effect", stating "Miles's two solos fit together perfectly, creating a feel similar to that of New Orleans jazz, with two trumpets weaving intricate, complementary lines around each other".^[10]

In Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis, Chambers writes of Davis's segment and the complex production of "Go Ahead John", "In spite of the gimmickry, the blues segment manages to state some old verities in a new context, and state them powerfully. Most jazz listeners can hope that someday Go Ahead John will be unscrambled and re-presented to them as, among other things, an unhurried blues by Davis accompanied only by Holland".^[12] Down Beat critic John Ephland interprets the recording to be "Miles' most obvious allusion to the Godfather of Soul, James Brown", adding that "Conjuring up images of Brown's 'I Can't Stand Myself' and 'I Got the Feelin',' from '67 and '68, respectively, 'Go Ahead John' shuffles, swirls, gets down and runs rampant, with some very creative editing, courtesy of producer Teo Macero".^[13] Allmusic editor Thom Jurek writes of the recording, "There is no piano. What's most interesting about this date is how it prefigures what would become 'Right Off' from Jack Johnson. It doesn't have the same fire, nor does it manage to sustain itself for the duration, but there are some truly wonderful sections in the piece".^[7] In Running the Voodoo Down: The Electric Music of Miles Davis, Phil Freeman calls the recording "one of the best things Miles and Macero created during the 1970s", writing that "It's a singular achievement in production, one that presents Miles in a different light than anything else in his catalog".^[6]

Release and reception

Released on April 19, 1974, by Columbia Records,^[14] Big Fun debuted at number 193 on the U.S. Billboard Top LPs chart and sold 50,000 copies in its first week.^[15]^[16] It ultimately reached number 179 on the chart and number six on Billboard's Top Jazz LPs chart.^[17] According to Todd S. Jenkins of All About Jazz, "The long, ever-droning, darkly exotic electric music, and in fact the very idea of just four songs taking up four full sides of an album, was not too appealing to critics or the general market at a time when short, sharp disco tunes were beginning to chart like wildfire. So Big Fun received generally weak reviews".^[8]

In a positive review, Billboard stated "Much of the existentialism in musical forms that has characterized Miles Davis' recent offerings are embodied in this new album, but Davis has the creativity of mind and expertise of profession to break away from the conventional and still remain an exciting, interesting, innovative and acceptable artist. This album is in that genre".^[18] Bob Palmer of Rolling Stone commented that "essentially Big Fun is the most consistently appealing, varied and adventurous Miles Davis album since Live/Evil, commands attention as such, and will doubtless give Davis's many imitators something to think about".^[11]

Legacy and reappraisal

Retrospective professional reviews
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[7]
Alternative Press	4/5^[19]
Christgau's Record Guide	A−^[20]
Down Beat	^[13]
MusicHound Jazz	3/5^[21]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	^[22]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	^[23]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	^[24]
Tom Hull – on the Web	B+ ()^[25]

In Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau believed three of the album's "side-long" compositions "wind down prematurely", but "for the most part this is uncommonly beautiful stuff, and it gets better". He singled out "Lonely Fire" as a highlight, writing that "after meandering at the beginning [it] develops into lyrical mood music reminiscent in spirit and fundamental intent of Sketches of Spain".^[20] The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004) said the album "defies easy categorization, although its dark, moody tracks boast a strong undercurrent of Indian classical rhythms in addition to the expected swathes of rock and funk".^[23]

Alternative Press called the album "essential....colorful and exotic" and wrote that it represents "the high water mark of his experiments in the fusion of rock, funk, electronica and jazz".^[19] The Penguin Guide to Jazz described it as "an entertaining simulation of a top-drawer R&B band, just about pushed into the jazz zone", with the key elements of Davis's "electronic" sound.^[26] Stylus Magazine's Edwin C. Faust commented that "a world without this music would be a considerably emptier place" and cited it as Davis's "greatest achievement" with regard to an album's "overall effect".^[9] Faust viewed that critics who originally found it "scattered" and "unfocused" might not have without "the knowledge of recording dates and band line-ups", while elaborating on its significance to Davis's catalogue:

"Big Fun has a very consistent vibe throughout. In contrast to its title, the album is moody and hauntingly lyrical—not entirely unlike In a Silent Way. Imagine the foreboding nature of Bitches Brew, with the primitive and funky undercurrent of On the Corner, but also with the majestic melodies of In a Silent Way cresting the surface. Plus, Big Fun is tied together by a stronger Eastern vibe than any of Davis’s other albums ... Big Fun is the work of a true musical craftsman and an even truer artist."^[9]

Down Beat critic John Ephland commented that "there is indeed a sense of adventure, of taking chances with so much talent, and with such skeletal designs", adding that "Big Fun reinforces the notion that Miles' primary contributions to music have come via orchestrating, organizing, enabling. How this music was put together proves to be as interesting as any solo or ensemble work [...] Incidentally, the digital sound quality is consistently high throughout".^[13] AllMusic editor Thomas Jurek was less enthusiastic. He found "some outstanding playing and composing here", but criticized "the numerous lineups and uneven flow of the tracks", writing that "despite the presence of classic tracks like Joe Zawinul's 'Great Expectations', Big Fun feels like the compendium of sources it is".^[7]

Track listing

All compositions by Miles Davis, except "Mulher Laranja" and "Recollections", composed by Joe Zawinul.

Original release

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Great Expectations" "Mulher Laranja"	27:23

Side two
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Ife"	21:34

Side three
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Go Ahead John"	28:27

Side four
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Lonely Fire"	21:21

Double CD edition

Disc one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Great Expectations" "Mulher Laranja"	27:23
2.	"Ife"	21:34
3.	"Recollections"	18:55
4.	"Trevere"	5:55

Disc two
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Go Ahead John"	28:29
2.	"Lonely Fire"	21:21
3.	"The Little Blue Frog"	9:10
4.	"Yaphet"	9:39

Note: Some issues mistakenly omit "Mulher Laranja" (better known as "Orange Lady"), along with its composer, from the liner notes and tracklist. However, the piece does appear on all editions of the album.

Personnel

Musicians

"Great Expectations/Orange Lady" (19 November 1969 – Columbia Studio E)

"Ife" (12 June 1972 – Columbia Studio E)

Miles Davis – electric trumpet with wah wah
Sonny Fortune – soprano saxophone, flute
Bennie Maupin – clarinet, flute
Carlos Garnett – soprano saxophone
Lonnie Liston Smith – electric piano
Harold I. Williams Jr. – electric piano
Michael Henderson – electric bass
Al Foster – drums
Billy Hart – drums
Badal Roy – tabla
James Mtume – African percussion

+ "Recollections" (6 February 1970 – Columbia Studio B)

+ "Trevere" (28 November 1969 – Columbia Studio E)

"Go Ahead John" (3 March 1970 – Columbia Studio E)

"Lonely Fire" (27 January 1970 – Columbia Studio B)

Miles Davis – trumpet
Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone
Bennie Maupin – bass clarinet
Khalil Balakrishna – sitar, Indian instruments
Chick Corea – electric piano
Joe Zawinul – electric piano, Farfisa organ
Dave Holland – double bass
Harvey Brooks – Fender bass guitar
Jack DeJohnette – drums
Billy Cobham – drums
Airto Moreira – Indian instruments, percussion

+ "The Little Blue Frog" (28 November 1969 – Columbia Studio E)

+ "Yaphet" (19 November 1969 – Columbia Studio E)

Additional personnel

2-LP original

Teo Macero – original record producer
Seth Rothstein – project director
Frank Laico, Stan Tonkel – original audio engineer
Russ Payne, Stan Weiss, John Guerriere – original mix engineer
Steve Berkowitz – A&R for Legacy
Patti Matheny, Darren Salmieri – A&R coordination
Corky McCoy – original cover art

2-CD reissue

Bob Belden – reissue producer
Seth Foster – reissue digital remastering at Sony Music Studios, NYC
Bennie Maupin – reissue main liner notes
Swing Journal Co., Ltd. Japan – reissue backcover photography
Uve Kuusik – reissue liner notes photography
Howard Fritzson – reissue art direction
Randall Martin – reissue design
Rachel Dicono – packaging manager
John Jackson – production assistance

Notes

References

^ "The Rhythm & The Blues". Billboard. July 22, 2000. p. 41. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
^ Mandel, Howard (2007). Miles, Ornette, Cecil: Jazz Beyond Jazz. Routledge. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-203-93564-4.
^ Miles Davis.com
^ Tingen, Paul (2001). Miles Beyond: The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967-1991. Billboard Books. p. 143. ISBN 0823083462.
^ ^a ^b Kolosky, Walter (December 31, 2008). Miles Davis: Go Ahead John (part two C) – Jazz.com | Jazz Music – Jazz Artists – Jazz News Archived May 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Jazz.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-03.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Freeman (2005), p. 92.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Jurek, Thom (November 1, 2002). Review: Big Fun. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Jenkins, Todd S. (June 1, 2001). Review: Big Fun. All About Jazz. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.
^ ^a ^b ^c Faust, Edwin C. (September 1, 2003). Review: Big Fun. Stylus Magazine. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.
^ ^a ^b Freeman (2005), p. 93.
^ ^a ^b Palmer, Bob (June 20, 1974). Review: Big Fun. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Chambers (1998), p. 199.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ephland (2007), p. 302–303.
^ "Miles Davis: Big Fun". Miles Davis Official Website. Archived from the original on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2011-10-01.
^ Top LP's & Tape – For Week Ending June 8, 1974 (108–200). Billboard. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.
^ Tiegal, Eliot (June 1, 1974). "Jazzmen Fusing Rock Into Music for Wider Appeal". Billboard: 1, 10.
^ Charts & Awards: Big Fun. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.
^ Columnist (May 4, 1974). "Review: Big Fun". Billboard: 62.
^ ^a ^b Product Notes – Big Fun. Muze. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.
^ ^a ^b Christgau, Robert (1981). "Miles Davis: Big Fun". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the '70s. Da Capo Press. p. 102. ISBN 0306804093. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
^ Holtje, Steve; Lee, Nancy Ann, eds. (1998). "Miles Davis". MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide. Music Sales Corporation. ISBN 0825672538.
^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 347. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
^ ^a ^b Hoard, Christian (ed.) (November 2, 2004). "Review: Big Fun". Rolling Stone: 215, 218.
^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 57. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
^ Hull, Tom (June 2, 2020). "Music Week". Tom Hull – On the Web. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
^ Cook, Richard (2004). "Review: Big Fun". The Penguin Guide to Jazz: 424.

Bibliography

Alkyer, Frank; John Ephland (2007). The Miles Davis Reader. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-1-4234-3076-6.
Chambers, Jack (1998). Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80849-8.
Freeman, Phil (2005). Running the Voodoo Down: The Electric Music of Miles Davis. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 0-87930-828-1.

External links

Big Fun at Discogs
Big Fun reviewed at Head Heritage

[1] "The Rhythm & The Blues". Billboard. July 22, 2000. p. 41. Retrieved April 16, 2013.

[2] Mandel, Howard (2007). Miles, Ornette, Cecil: Jazz Beyond Jazz. Routledge. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-203-93564-4.

[3] Miles Davis.com

[4] Tingen, Paul (2001). Miles Beyond: The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967-1991. Billboard Books. p. 143. ISBN 0823083462.

[Kolosky-5] Kolosky, Walter (December 31, 2008). Miles Davis: Go Ahead John (part two C) – Jazz.com | Jazz Music – Jazz Artists – Jazz News Archived May 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Jazz.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-03.

[Freeman92-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Freeman (2005), p. 92.

[Jurek-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Jurek, Thom (November 1, 2002). Review: Big Fun. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.

[Jenkins-8] Jenkins, Todd S. (June 1, 2001). Review: Big Fun. All About Jazz. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.

[Faust-9] Faust, Edwin C. (September 1, 2003). Review: Big Fun. Stylus Magazine. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.

[Freeman93-10] Freeman (2005), p. 93.

[Palmer-11] Palmer, Bob (June 20, 1974). Review: Big Fun. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.

[Chambers199-12] Chambers (1998), p. 199.

[Ephland303-13] Ephland (2007), p. 302–303.

[14] "Miles Davis: Big Fun". Miles Davis Official Website. Archived from the original on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2011-10-01.

[15] Top LP's & Tape – For Week Ending June 8, 1974 (108–200). Billboard. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.

[16] Tiegal, Eliot (June 1, 1974). "Jazzmen Fusing Rock Into Music for Wider Appeal". Billboard: 1, 10.

[bbcharts-17] Charts & Awards: Big Fun. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.

[Billboard-18] Columnist (May 4, 1974). "Review: Big Fun". Billboard: 62.

[notes-19] Product Notes – Big Fun. Muze. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.

[Christgau-20] Christgau, Robert (1981). "Miles Davis: Big Fun". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the '70s. Da Capo Press. p. 102. ISBN 0306804093. Retrieved June 3, 2018.

[21] Holtje, Steve; Lee, Nancy Ann, eds. (1998). "Miles Davis". MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide. Music Sales Corporation. ISBN 0825672538.

[Penguin9-22] Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 347. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.

[Hoard-23] Hoard, Christian (ed.) (November 2, 2004). "Review: Big Fun". Rolling Stone: 215, 218.

[RSJRG-24] Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 57. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.

[Hull-25] Hull, Tom (June 2, 2020). "Music Week". Tom Hull – On the Web. Retrieved June 20, 2020.

[Penguin-26] Cook, Richard (2004). "Review: Big Fun". The Penguin Guide to Jazz: 424.

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@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 | recorded   = November 19, 28, 1969; February 6, 1970; March 3, 1970; and June 12, 1972
 | venue      =
-| studio     = Columbia Studios B and E, New York City
+| studio     = [[CBS Studio Building|Columbia 52nd Street]] (New York City)
-| genre      = [[Jazz-fusion]]<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA41|access-date=April 16, 2013|journal=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|page=41|date=July 22, 2000|title=The Rhythm & The Blues}}</ref>
+| genre      = [[Jazz-fusion]]<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA41|access-date=April 16, 2013|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|page=41|date=July 22, 2000|title=The Rhythm & The Blues}}</ref>
 | length     = 98:45
 | label      = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 | next_year  = 1974
 }}
-'''''Big Fun''''' is a [[compilation album]] by American [[jazz]] musician [[Miles Davis]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Mandel|first=Howard|year=2007|title=Miles, Ornette, Cecil: Jazz Beyond Jazz|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-0-203-93564-4|page=73}}</ref> It was released by [[Columbia Records]] on April 19, 1974, and compiled recordings Davis had made in sessions between 1969 and 1972.<ref>[http://www.milesdavis.com/albums/big-fun/ Miles Davis.com]</ref> Largely ignored in 1974, it was reissued on August 1, 2000, by Columbia and [[Legacy Records]] with additional material, which led to a critical reevaluation.
+'''''Big Fun''''' is an [[album]] by American [[jazz]] trumpeter [[Miles Davis]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Mandel|first=Howard|year=2007|title=Miles, Ornette, Cecil: Jazz Beyond Jazz|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-0-203-93564-4|page=73}}</ref> It was released by [[Columbia Records]] on April 19, 1974, and compiled recordings Davis had made in sessions between 1969 and 1972. It was advertised as a new album with "four new Miles Davis compositions" <ref>[http://www.milesdavis.com/albums/big-fun/ Miles Davis.com]</ref> One of three Davis albums released in 1974 and largely ignored, it was reissued on August 1, 2000, by Columbia and [[Legacy Records]] with additional material, which led to a critical reevaluation.
 == Background and recording ==
-''Big Fun'' presents music from three different phases of Miles Davis's early-seventies "electric" period.
+''Big Fun'' presents music from three phases of Miles Davis's early-seventies "electric" period. The album is named for a composition Davis recorded in 1973, but it was not released until 2007 on the box set ''[[The Complete On the Corner Sessions]]''.
 Sides one and four ("Great Expectations/Orange Lady" and "Lonely Fire") were recorded three months after the ''[[Bitches Brew]]'' sessions and incorporate [[sitar]], [[Tanpura (instrument)|tambura]], [[tabla]], and other [[Indian instruments]]. They also mark the first time since the beginning of Miles Davis's electric period that he played his trumpet with the [[Harmon mute]] which had been one of his hallmarks, making it sound much like the sitar. This contributed to creating a very clear and lean sound, highlighting both the high and low registers, as opposed to the busier sound of ''Bitches Brew'' which placed more emphasis on the middle and low registers.
-"Ife"--named after [[James Mtume]]'s daughter<ref>{{cite book|last=Tingen|first=Paul|author-link=Paul Tingen|year=2001|title=Miles Beyond: The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967-1991|publisher=[[Billboard Books]]|page=[https://archive.org/details/milesbeyondelect00ting/page/143 143]|isbn=0823083462|url=https://archive.org/details/milesbeyondelect00ting/page/143}}</ref>--was recorded after the 1972 ''[[On the Corner]]'' sessions, and the framework is similar to tracks from that record. It has a drum and electric bass groove (which in fact at one point breaks down due to mistiming) and a plethora of musicians improvising individually and in combinations over variations on the bassline.
+"Ife"—named after [[James Mtume]]'s daughter<ref>{{cite book|last=Tingen|first=Paul|author-link=Paul Tingen|year=2001|title=Miles Beyond: The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967-1991|publisher=[[Billboard Books]]|page=[https://archive.org/details/milesbeyondelect00ting/page/143 143]|isbn=0823083462|url=https://archive.org/details/milesbeyondelect00ting/page/143}}</ref>—was recorded after the 1972 ''[[On the Corner]]'' sessions, and the framework is similar to tracks from that record. It has a drum and electric bass groove (which in fact at one point breaks down due to mistiming) and a plethora of musicians improvising individually and in combinations over variations on the bassline.
 == "Go Ahead John" ==
@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 }}
 |}
-Recorded on March 7, 1970,<ref name="Freeman92"/> "Go Ahead John" is an outtake from Davis's ''[[A Tribute to Jack Johnson|Jack Johnson]]'' sessions.<ref name="Jurek"/> The recording is a [[Riff (music)|riff]] and [[groove (music)|groove]]-based, with a relatively sparser line-up of [[Steve Grossman (saxophonist)|Steve Grossman]] on soprano saxophone, [[Dave Holland]] on bass, [[Jack DeJohnette]] on drums, and [[John McLaughlin (musician)|John McLaughlin]] on guitar with [[wah-wah pedal]].<ref name="Jurek"/><ref name="Jenkins"/> It was one of the rare occasions in which Davis recorded without a musical keyboard.<ref name="Freeman92"/> It was recorded in five sections, ranging from three to 13 minutes, which producer [[Teo Macero]] subsequently assembled in post-production four years later for ''Big Fun''.<ref name="Freeman92">Freeman (2005), p. 92.</ref> DeJohnette provides a funky, complex groove, Holland plays bass with one constant note repeated, and McLaughlin plays in a [[staccato]] style with blues and [[funk]] elements.<ref name="Freeman92"/> According to one music writer, the track's bass parts has "a trancelike drone that maintains" the predominantly [[Music of Asia|Eastern]] vibe of the album.<ref name="Faust"/>
+Recorded on March 3, 1970,<ref name="Freeman92"/> "Go Ahead John" is an outtake from Davis's ''[[A Tribute to Jack Johnson|Jack Johnson]]'' sessions.<ref name="Jurek"/> The recording is a [[Riff (music)|riff]] and [[groove (music)|groove]]-based, with a relatively sparser line-up of [[Steve Grossman (saxophonist)|Steve Grossman]] on soprano saxophone, [[Dave Holland]] on bass, [[Jack DeJohnette]] on drums, and [[John McLaughlin (musician)|John McLaughlin]] on guitar with [[wah-wah pedal]].<ref name="Jurek"/><ref name="Jenkins"/> It was one of the rare occasions in which Davis recorded without a musical keyboard.<ref name="Freeman92"/> It was recorded in five sections, ranging from three to 13 minutes, which producer [[Teo Macero]] subsequently assembled in post-production four years later for ''Big Fun''.<ref name="Freeman92">Freeman (2005), p. 92.</ref> DeJohnette provides a funky, complex groove, Holland plays bass with one constant note repeated, and McLaughlin plays in a [[staccato]] style with blues and [[funk]] elements.<ref name="Freeman92"/> According to one music writer, the track's bass parts has "a trancelike drone that maintains" the predominantly [[Music of Asia|Eastern]] vibe of the album.<ref name="Faust"/>
-Davis's trumpet and McLaughlin's guitar parts were heavily [[overdubbing|overdubbed]] for the recording.<ref name="Palmer"/> The overdubbing effect was created by superimposing part of Davis's trumpet solo onto other parts of it, through something Teo Macero calls a "recording loop". Macero later said of this production technique, "You hear the two parts and it's only two parts, but the two parts become four and they become eight parts. This was done over in the editing room and it just adds something to the music [...] I called [Davis] in and I said, 'Come in, I think we've got something you'll like. We'll try it on and if you like it you've got it.' He came in and flipped out. He said it was one of the greatest things he ever heard".<ref name="Chambers199"/> DeJohnette's drums were also manipulated by Macero, who used an automatic switcher to have them rattle back and forth between the left and right speakers on the recording.<ref name="Freeman92"/> In his book ''Running the Voodoo Down: The Electric Music of Miles Davis'', Davis-biographer Phil Freeman describes this technique as "100 percent Macero" and writes of its significance to the track as a whole, stating:
+DeJohnette's drums were manipulated by Macero, who used an automatic switcher to have them rattle back and forth between the left and right speakers on the recording.<ref name="Freeman92"/> In his book ''Running the Voodoo Down: The Electric Music of Miles Davis'', Davis-biographer Phil Freeman describes this technique as "100 percent Macero" and writes of its significance to the track as a whole, stating:
 {{quote|This doesn't create the effect of two drummers. It's just disorienting, throwing the ear off balance in a way that forces the listener to pay close attention. The drums cease to perform their traditional function. Jack DeJohnette's beats, funky and propulsive on the session tapes, are so chopped up that their timekeeping utility is virtually nil. Macero has diced the rhythm so adroitly that we are not even permitted to hear an entire drum hit or hi-hat crash. All that remains are clicks and whooshes, barely identifiable as drums and, again, practically useless as rhythmic indicators. Thus, the pace is maintained by Dave Holland's one-note throb and the occasional descending blues progression he plays. The feeling one gets from "Go Ahead John" becomes one of floating in space.<ref name="Freeman93"/>}}
+Davis's trumpet and McLaughlin's guitar parts were heavily [[overdubbing|overdubbed]] for the recording.<ref name="Palmer"/> The overdubbing effect was created by superimposing part of Davis's trumpet solo onto other parts of it, through something Teo Macero calls a "recording loop". Macero later said of this production technique, "You hear the two parts and it's only two parts, but the two parts become four and they become eight parts. This was done over in the editing room and it just adds something to the music [...] I called [Davis] in and I said, 'Come in, I think we've got something you'll like. We'll try it on and if you like it you've got it.' He came in and flipped out. He said it was one of the greatest things he ever heard".<ref name="Chambers199"/>
 === Composition ===
-Titled as an exhortation by Davis to McLaughlin,<ref name="Kolosky"/> "Go Ahead John" features a basic, [[blues]] [[motif (music)|motif]], centered around [[E♭ (musical note)|E]] and [[B-flat major|B♭]], as well as modulations introduced by Davis into the [[D-flat major|D♭]] scale.<ref name="Jurek"/> The recording begins with McLaughlin's funky wah-wah lines, backing Grossman's sharp, restrained playing, with Davis's first trumpet solo entering at four minutes with scattered [[Musical idea|idea]]s.<ref name="Freeman92"/><ref name="Jenkins"/> In his book ''Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis'', [[Jack Chambers (linguist)|Jack Chambers]] writes that the recording's first 11 minutes and its closing four-and-a-half minutes "resemble Willie Nelson [from ''Jack Johnson''] as a head arrangement built on a riff, with the riff sustained this time by McLaughlin's steady wah-wah in the background.<ref name="Chambers199">Chambers (1998), p. 199.</ref> Approximately six minutes into it, McLaughlin's guitar solo succeeds Davis's first solo, as the band [[vamp (music)|vamps]].<ref name="Freeman92"/> Music journalist Todd S. Jenkins writes of this passage in the recording, "Thanks to the then-new wonders of [[noise gate]] technology, Jack DeJohnette’s drums and cymbals flit back and forth rapidly from left to right in the mix. With each switch, the guitar’s volume blasts in and out, over and over again, during McLaughlin’s relentlessly acidic solo".<ref name="Jenkins"/> Following the passage, an unrelated [[Theme (music)|theme]] opens with two minutes of a slow blues segment by Davis that is spliced into the recording, accompanied solely by occasional notes from Holland; According to Jack Chambers, Davis's blues solo "becomes a duet with himself by overdubbing, and then builds into a quintet performance lasting ten more minutes".<ref name="Chambers199"/> Phil Freeman wrote of this "doubling effect", stating "Miles's two solos fit together perfectly, creating a feel similar to that of [[Dixieland|New Orleans jazz]], with two trumpets weaving intricate, complementary lines around each other".<ref name="Freeman93">Freeman (2005), p. 93.</ref>
+Titled as an exhortation by Davis to McLaughlin,<ref name="Kolosky"/> "Go Ahead John" features a basic [[blues]] [[motif (music)|motif]], centered around [[E♭ (musical note)|E]] and [[B-flat major|B♭]], as well as modulations introduced by Davis into the [[D-flat major|D♭]] scale.<ref name="Jurek"/> The recording begins with McLaughlin's funky wah-wah lines, backing Grossman's sharp, restrained playing, with Davis's first trumpet solo entering at four minutes with scattered [[Musical idea|idea]]s.<ref name="Freeman92"/><ref name="Jenkins"/> In his book ''Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis'', [[Jack Chambers (linguist)|Jack Chambers]] writes that the recording's first 11 minutes and its closing four-and-a-half minutes "resemble Willie Nelson [from ''Jack Johnson''] as a head arrangement built on a riff, with the riff sustained this time by McLaughlin's steady wah-wah in the background.<ref name="Chambers199">Chambers (1998), p. 199.</ref> Approximately six minutes into it, McLaughlin's guitar solo succeeds Davis's first solo, as the band [[vamp (music)|vamps]].<ref name="Freeman92"/> Music journalist Todd S. Jenkins writes of this passage in the recording, "Thanks to the then-new wonders of [[noise gate]] technology, Jack DeJohnette’s drums and cymbals flit back and forth rapidly from left to right in the mix. With each switch, the guitar’s volume blasts in and out, over and over again, during McLaughlin’s relentlessly acidic solo".<ref name="Jenkins"/> Following the passage, an unrelated [[Theme (music)|theme]] opens with two minutes of a slow blues segment by Davis that is spliced into the recording, accompanied solely by occasional notes from Holland; According to Jack Chambers, Davis's blues solo "becomes a duet with himself by overdubbing, and then builds into a quintet performance lasting ten more minutes".<ref name="Chambers199"/> Phil Freeman wrote of this "doubling effect", stating "Miles's two solos fit together perfectly, creating a feel similar to that of [[Dixieland|New Orleans jazz]], with two trumpets weaving intricate, complementary lines around each other".<ref name="Freeman93">Freeman (2005), p. 93.</ref>
 In ''Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis'', Chambers writes of Davis's segment and the complex production of "Go Ahead John", "In spite of the gimmickry, the blues segment manages to state some old verities in a new context, and state them powerfully. Most jazz listeners can hope that someday Go Ahead John will be unscrambled and re-presented to them as, among other things, an unhurried blues by Davis accompanied only by Holland".<ref name="Chambers199"/> ''[[Down Beat]]'' critic John Ephland interprets the recording to be "Miles' most obvious allusion to the Godfather of Soul, [[James Brown]]", adding that "Conjuring up images of Brown's 'I Can't Stand Myself' and '[[I Got the Feelin']],' from '67 and '68, respectively, 'Go Ahead John' shuffles, swirls, gets down and runs rampant, with some very creative editing, courtesy of producer Teo Macero".<ref name="Ephland303">Ephland (2007), p. 302–303.</ref> [[Allmusic]] editor Thom Jurek writes of the recording, "There is no piano. What's most interesting about this date is how it prefigures what would become 'Right Off' from ''Jack Johnson''. It doesn't have the same fire, nor does it manage to sustain itself for the duration, but there are some truly wonderful sections in the piece".<ref name="Jurek"/> In ''Running the Voodoo Down: The Electric Music of Miles Davis'', Phil Freeman calls the recording "one of the best things Miles and Macero created during the 1970s", writing that "It's a singular achievement in production, one that presents Miles in a different light than anything else in his catalog".<ref name="Freeman92"/>
@@ Line 52: / Line 54: @@
 == Release and reception ==
-Released on April 19, 1974, by [[Columbia Records]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.milesdavis.com/de/node/851 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120906003026/http://www.milesdavis.com/de/node/851 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-09-06 |publisher=Miles Davis Official Website |access-date=2011-10-01 |title=Miles Davis: Big Fun }}</ref> ''Big Fun'' debuted at number 193 on the U.S. [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' Top LPs]] chart and sold 50,000 copies in its first week.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT53&dq=#v=onepage&q&f=false Top LP's & Tape – For Week Ending June 8, 1974 (108–200)]. ''Billboard''. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.</ref><ref>Tiegal, Eliot (June 1, 1974). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=aQkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10&dq=#v=onepage&q&f=false Jazzmen Fusing Rock Into Music for Wider Appeal]". ''Billboard'': 1, 10.</ref> It ultimately reached number 179 on the chart and number six on ''[[Billboard charts|Billboard]]''{{'}}s [[Top Jazz Albums|Top Jazz LPs]] chart.<ref name="bbcharts">[http://www.allmusic.com/album/big-fun-r106180/charts-awards Charts & Awards: ''Big Fun'']. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.</ref> According to Todd S. Jenkins of ''[[All About Jazz]]'', "The long, ever-droning, darkly exotic electric music, and in fact the very idea of just four songs taking up four full sides of an album, was not too appealing to critics or the general market at a time when short, sharp disco tunes were beginning to chart like wildfire. So ''Big Fun'' received generally weak reviews".<ref name="Jenkins">Jenkins, Todd S. (June 1, 2001). [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=7910 Review: ''Big Fun'']. ''[[All About Jazz]]''. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.</ref>
+Released on April 19, 1974, by [[Columbia Records]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.milesdavis.com/de/node/851 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120906003026/http://www.milesdavis.com/de/node/851 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-09-06 |publisher=Miles Davis Official Website |access-date=2011-10-01 |title=Miles Davis: Big Fun }}</ref> ''Big Fun'' debuted at number 193 on the U.S. [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' Top LPs]] chart and sold 50,000 copies in its first week.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT53 Top LP's & Tape – For Week Ending June 8, 1974 (108–200)]. ''Billboard''. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.</ref><ref>Tiegal, Eliot (June 1, 1974). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=aQkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10 Jazzmen Fusing Rock Into Music for Wider Appeal]". ''Billboard'': 1, 10.</ref> It ultimately reached number 179 on the chart and number six on ''[[Billboard charts|Billboard]]''{{'}}s [[Top Jazz Albums|Top Jazz LPs]] chart.<ref name="bbcharts">[http://www.allmusic.com/album/big-fun-r106180/charts-awards Charts & Awards: ''Big Fun'']. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.</ref> According to Todd S. Jenkins of ''[[All About Jazz]]'', "The long, ever-droning, darkly exotic electric music, and in fact the very idea of just four songs taking up four full sides of an album, was not too appealing to critics or the general market at a time when short, sharp disco tunes were beginning to chart like wildfire. So ''Big Fun'' received generally weak reviews".<ref name="Jenkins">Jenkins, Todd S. (June 1, 2001). [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=7910 Review: ''Big Fun'']. ''[[All About Jazz]]''. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.</ref>
-In a positive review, ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' stated "Much of the existentialism in musical forms that has characterized Miles Davis' recent offerings are embodied in this new album, but Davis has the creativity of mind and expertise of profession to break away from the conventional and still remain an exciting, interesting, innovative and acceptable artist. This album is in that genre".<ref name="Billboard">Columnist (May 4, 1974). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=cgkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA62#v=onepage&q&f=false Review: ''Big Fun'']". ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'': 62.</ref> Bob Palmer of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' commented that "essentially ''Big Fun'' is the most consistently appealing, varied and adventurous Miles Davis album since ''[[Live-Evil (Miles Davis album)|Live/Evil]]'', commands attention as such, and will doubtless give Davis's many imitators something to think about".<ref name="Palmer">Palmer, Bob (June 20, 1974). [https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/big-fun-19740620 Review: ''Big Fun'']. ''[[Rolling Stone]]''. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.</ref>
+In a positive review, ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' stated "Much of the existentialism in musical forms that has characterized Miles Davis' recent offerings are embodied in this new album, but Davis has the creativity of mind and expertise of profession to break away from the conventional and still remain an exciting, interesting, innovative and acceptable artist. This album is in that genre".<ref name="Billboard">Columnist (May 4, 1974). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=cgkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA62 Review: ''Big Fun'']". ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'': 62.</ref> Bob Palmer of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' commented that "essentially ''Big Fun'' is the most consistently appealing, varied and adventurous Miles Davis album since ''[[Live-Evil (Miles Davis album)|Live/Evil]]'', commands attention as such, and will doubtless give Davis's many imitators something to think about".<ref name="Palmer">Palmer, Bob (June 20, 1974). [https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/big-fun-19740620 Review: ''Big Fun'']. ''[[Rolling Stone]]''. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.</ref>
 == Legacy and reappraisal ==
@@ Line 64: / Line 66: @@
 | rev2Score = 4/5<ref name="notes"/>
 | rev3 = ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|Christgau's Record Guide]]''
-| rev3Score = A–<ref name="Christgau"/>
+| rev3Score = A−<ref name="Christgau"/>
 | rev4 = ''[[Down Beat]]''
 | rev4Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="Ephland303"/>
 | rev5 = ''[[MusicHound|MusicHound Jazz]]''
 | rev5Score = 3/5<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Holtje|editor1-first=Steve|editor2-last=Lee|editor2-first=Nancy Ann|year=1998|title=[[MusicHound|MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide]]|publisher=[[Music Sales Corporation]]|isbn=0825672538|chapter=Miles Davis}}</ref>
-| rev6 = ''[[The Penguin Guide to Jazz]]''
+|rev6 = ''[[The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings]]''
+|rev6score  = {{Rating|3.5|4}} <ref name="Penguin9">{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Richard |authorlink1=Richard Cook (journalist) |last2=Morton |first2=Brian |authorlink2=Brian Morton (Scottish writer) |title=[[The Penguin Guide to Jazz|The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings]] |year=2008 |edition=9th |publisher=[[Penguin Books|Penguin]] |isbn=978-0-141-03401-0 |page=347}}</ref>
-| rev6Score = {{Rating|3|4}}<ref name="Penguin"/>
 | rev7 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
 | rev7Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="Hoard"/>
@@ Line 87: / Line 89: @@
 | rev9Score = B+ ({{Rating-Christgau|hm3}})<ref name="Hull">{{cite web|last=Hull|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Hull (critic)|date=June 2, 2020|url=http://tomhull.com/ocston/blog/archives/2852-Music-Week.html|title=Music Week|website=Tom Hull – On the Web|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref>
 }}
-In ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]'' (1981), [[Robert Christgau]] believed three of the album's "side-long" compositions "wind down prematurely", but "for the most part this is uncommonly beautiful stuff, and it gets better". He singled out "Lonely Fire" as a highlight, writing that "after meandering at the beginning [it] develops into lyrical mood music reminiscent in spirit and fundamental intent of ''[[Sketches of Spain]]''".<ref name="Christgau">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|chapter=Miles Davis: Big Fun|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=2406|access-date=June 3, 2018|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the '70s|publisher=[[Da Capo Press]]|isbn=0306804093|page=102}}</ref> ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'' (2004) said the album "defies easy categorization, although its dark, moody tracks boast a strong undercurrent of Indian classical rhythms in addition to the expected swathes of rock and funk".<ref name="Hoard">Hoard, Christian (ed.) (November 2, 2004). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=lRgtYCC6OUwC&pg=PA215#v=onepage&q=&f=false Review: ''Big Fun'']". ''Rolling Stone'': 215, 218.</ref>
+In ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]'' (1981), [[Robert Christgau]] believed three of the album's "side-long" compositions "wind down prematurely", but "for the most part this is uncommonly beautiful stuff, and it gets better". He singled out "Lonely Fire" as a highlight, writing that "after meandering at the beginning [it] develops into lyrical mood music reminiscent in spirit and fundamental intent of ''[[Sketches of Spain]]''".<ref name="Christgau">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|chapter=Miles Davis: Big Fun|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=2406|access-date=June 3, 2018|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the '70s|publisher=[[Da Capo Press]]|isbn=0306804093|page=102}}</ref> ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'' (2004) said the album "defies easy categorization, although its dark, moody tracks boast a strong undercurrent of Indian classical rhythms in addition to the expected swathes of rock and funk".<ref name="Hoard">Hoard, Christian (ed.) (November 2, 2004). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=lRgtYCC6OUwC&pg=PA215 Review: ''Big Fun'']". ''Rolling Stone'': 215, 218.</ref>
 ''[[Alternative Press (music magazine)|Alternative Press]]'' called the album "essential....colorful and exotic" and wrote that it represents "the high water mark of his experiments in the fusion of rock, funk, electronica and jazz".<ref name="notes">[https://web.archive.org/web/20080502131508/http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1088338/a/Big+Fun.htm Product Notes – ''Big Fun'']. [[Muze]]. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.</ref> ''[[The Penguin Guide to Jazz]]'' described it as "an entertaining simulation of a top-drawer R&B band, just about pushed into the jazz zone", with the key elements of Davis's "electronic" sound.<ref name="Penguin">Cook, Richard (2004). "Review: ''Big Fun''". ''[[The Penguin Guide to Jazz]]'': 424.</ref> ''[[Stylus Magazine]]''{{'}}s Edwin C. Faust commented that "a world without this music would be a considerably emptier place" and cited it as Davis's "greatest achievement" with regard to an album's "overall effect".<ref name="Faust">Faust, Edwin C. (September 1, 2003). [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/miles-davis-big-fun.htm Review: ''Big Fun'']. [[Stylus Magazine]]. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.</ref> Faust viewed that critics who originally found it "scattered" and "unfocused" might not have without "the knowledge of recording dates and band line-ups", while elaborating on its significance to Davis's catalogue:
@@ Line 96: / Line 98: @@
 ==Track listing==
-All compositions by [[Miles Davis]], except where noted.
+All compositions by [[Miles Davis]], except "Mulher Laranja" and "Recollections", composed by [[Joe Zawinul]].
-===1974 double LP===
+'''Original release'''
 {{tracklist
-|headline = Side 1
+|headline = Side one
-|title1= Great Expectations/Orange Lady
+|title1 = Great Expectations" <br> "Mulher Laranja
+|writer1 =
-|note1 = Davis, Zawinul
 |length1 = 27:23
 }}
 {{tracklist
-|headline = Side 2
+|headline = Side two
-|title2 = Ife
+|title1 = Ife
-|length2 = 21:34
+|writer1 =
+|length1 = 21:34
 }}
 {{tracklist
-|headline = Side 3
+|headline = Side three
-|title3 = Go Ahead John
+|title1 = Go Ahead John
+|writer1 =
-|length3 = 28:27
+|length1 = 28:27
 }}
 {{tracklist
-|headline = Side 4
+|headline = Side four
-|title4 = Lonely Fire
+|title1 = Lonely Fire
+|writer1 =
-|length4 = 21:21
+|length1 = 21:21
 }}
+{{large|'''Double CD edition'''}}
-===2000 double CD===
 {{tracklist
-|headline = Disc 1
+|headline = Disc one
-|title1 = Great Expectations/Orange Lady
+|title1 = Great Expectations" <br> "Mulher Laranja
+|writer1 =
-|note1 = Davis, Zawinul
 |length1 = 27:23
 |title2 = Ife
+|writer2 =
 |length2 = 21:34
 |title3 = Recollections
+|writer3 =
-|note3 = Zawinul
 |length3 = 18:55
 |title4 = Trevere
+|writer4 =
 |length4 = 5:55
 }}
 {{tracklist
-|headline = Disc 2
+|headline = Disc two
 |title1 = Go Ahead John
+|writer1 =
-|length1 = 28:27
+|length1 = 28:29
 |title2 = Lonely Fire
+|writer2 =
 |length2 = 21:21
 |title3 = The Little Blue Frog
+|writer3 =
 |length3 = 9:10
 |title4 = Yaphet
+|writer4 =
 |length4 = 9:39
 }}
+'''Note:''' Some issues mistakenly omit "Mulher Laranja" (better known as "Orange Lady"), along with its composer, from the liner notes and tracklist. However, the piece does appear on all editions of the album.
 ==Personnel== <!--adapted from CD reissue liner notes, with more details from http://riad.usk.pk.edu.pl/~pmj/dejohnette/big_fun.txt-->
@@ Line 160: / Line 179: @@
 * [[John McLaughlin (musician)|John McLaughlin]] – [[electric guitar]]
 * [[Khalil Balakrishna]] – [[electric sitar]]
-* [[Bihari Sharima]] – [[tabla]], [[Tanpura (instrument)|tamboura]]
+* [[Bihari Sharma]] – [[tabla]], [[Tanpura (instrument)|tamboura]]
 * [[Herbie Hancock]] – [[electric piano]]
 * [[Chick Corea]] – [[electric piano]]
@@ Line 175: / Line 194: @@
 * [[Carlos Garnett]] – [[soprano saxophone]]
 * [[Lonnie Liston Smith]] – [[electric piano]]
-* [[Harold I. Williams]], Jr. – [[electric piano]]
+* [[Harold I. Williams]] Jr. – [[electric piano]]
 * [[Michael Henderson]] – [[electric bass]]
 * [[Al Foster]] – [[drum kit|drums]]
@@ Line 203: / Line 222: @@
 * [[Larry Young (jazz)|Larry Young]] – [[organ (music)|organ]], [[celesta|celeste]]
 * [[Khalil Balakrishna]] – [[electric sitar]]
-* [[Bihari Sharima]] – [[Tanpura (instrument)|tamboura]]
+* [[Bihari Sharma]] – [[Tanpura (instrument)|tamboura]]
 * [[Harvey Brooks (bassist)|Harvey Brooks]] – [[bass guitar|electric bass guitar]]
 * [[Dave Holland]] – [[double bass]]
@@ Line 223: / Line 242: @@
 * [[Miles Davis]] – [[trumpet]]
-* [[Wayne Shorter]] – [[tenor saxophone]]
+* [[Wayne Shorter]] – [[soprano saxophone]]
 * [[Bennie Maupin]] – [[bass clarinet]]
 * [[Khalil Balakrishna]] – [[sitar]], [[Indian instruments]]
@@ Line 243: / Line 262: @@
 * [[Larry Young (jazz)|Larry Young]] – [[organ (music)|organ]], [[celesta|celeste]]
 * [[Khalil Balakrishna]] – [[electric sitar]]
-* [[Bihari Sharima]] – [[Tanpura (instrument)|tamboura]]
+* [[Bihari Sharma]] – [[Tanpura (instrument)|tamboura]]
 * [[Harvey Brooks (bassist)|Harvey Brooks]] – [[bass guitar|electric bass guitar]]
 * [[Dave Holland]] – [[double bass]]
@@ Line 259: / Line 278: @@
 * [[Chick Corea]] – [[electric piano]] (right)
 * [[Khalil Balakrishna]] – [[electric sitar]]
-* [[Bihari Sharima]] – [[Tanpura (instrument)|tamboura]], [[tabla]]
+* [[Bihari Sharma]] – [[Tanpura (instrument)|tamboura]], [[tabla]]
 * [[Harvey Brooks (bassist)|Harvey Brooks]] – [[bass guitar|electric bass guitar]]
 * [[Ron Carter]] – [[double bass]]
@@ Line 290: / Line 309: @@
 * Rachel Dicono – packaging manager
 * John Jackson – production assistance
+== Notes ==
+{{Reflist|group=nb}}
 == References ==
-{{reflist}}
+{{Reflist}}
 == Bibliography ==
@@ Line 304: / Line 326: @@
 {{Miles Davis}}{{Chick Corea}}{{Herbie Hancock}}{{John McLaughlin}}{{Larry Young (musician)}}
+{{Authority control}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Fun}}

v t e Chick Corea
Chick Corea discography
As leader	Tones for Joan's Bones (1968) Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (1968) Circling In (1975) Is (1969) Sundance (1972) The Song of Singing (1970) A.R.C. (1971) (with Dave Holland & Barry Altschul) The Leprechaun (1976) My Spanish Heart (1976) The Mad Hatter (1978) Secret Agent (1978) Friends (1978) Tap Step (1980) Three Quartets (1981) Trio Music (1982) Touchstone (1982) Again and Again (1983) Summer Night: Live (1987) (with Akoustic Band) Chick Corea Akoustic Band (1989) (with Akoustic Band) Alive (1991) (with Akoustic Band) Seabreeze (1993) (with Gayle Moran & Lionel Hampton) Time Warp (1995) Remembering Bud Powell (1996) Rendezvous in New York (2003) The Ultimate Adventure (2006) Super Trio - Live at the One World Theatre, April 3rd, 2005 (2006) (with Steve Gadd & Christian McBride) Five Peace Band Live (2009) (with John McLaughlin) Further Explorations (2012) The Continents: Concerto for Jazz Quintet & Chamber Orchestra (2012) The Vigil (2013) Trilogy (2013) (with Chick Corea Trio) The Musician: Live at The Blue Note Jazz Café (2016) Chinese Butterfly (2017) (with Steve Gadd) Trilogy 2 (2019)(with Chick Corea Trio) Antidote (2019)
Solo piano albums	Piano Improvisations Vol. 1 (1971) Piano Improvisations Vol. 2 (1972) Delphi I (1979) Delphi II & III (1980) Children's Songs (1984) Expressions (1994) Solo Piano: Originals (2000) Solo Piano: Standards (2000) Solo Piano – Portraits (2014) Plays (2020)
Duos	An Evening with Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea: In Concert (1978) CoreaHancock (1979) Chick Corea & Lionel Hampton in Concert (1980) Voyage (1984) [with Steve Kujala] Play (1992) (with Bobby McFerrin) The Enchantment (2007) (with Béla Fleck) Duet (2008) (with Hiromi Uehara) Orvieto (2010) (with Stefano Bollani) Two (2015) [with Béla Fleck]
with Gary Burton	Crystal Silence (1972) Duet (1979) In Concert, Zürich, October 28, 1979 (1980) Lyric Suite for Sextet (1982) Native Sense - The New Duets (1997) The New Crystal Silence (2008) Hot House (2012)
Circle	Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert (1970) Circle 2: Gathering (1971) Paris Concert (1972) Circling In (1975) Circulus (1978)
with Stanley Clarke	Children of Forever (1973) Journey to Love (1975) Rocks, Pebbles and Sand (1980) Up (2014)
with Miles Davis	Water Babies (1976) Filles de Kilimanjaro (1969) In a Silent Way (1969) Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (2013) Bitches Brew (1970) Bitches Brew Live (2011) Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West (1977) Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East (1970) Miles at the Fillmore – Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (2014) Jack Johnson (a.k.a. A Tribute to Jack Johnson) (1971) Circle in the Round (1979) Live-Evil (1971) On the Corner (1972) Big Fun (1974)
with Chick Corea Elektric Band	The Chick Corea Elektric Band (1986) Light Years (1987) Eye of the Beholder (1988) Inside Out (1990) Beneath the Mask (1991) Elektric Band II: Paint the World (1993) Live from Elario's (The First Gig) (1996) To the Stars (2004) Live in Tokyo 1987 (2017)
with Joe Farrell	Joe Farrell Quartet (1970) Outback (1971) Skate Board Park (1979)
with Stan Getz	Sweet Rain (1967) What the World Needs Now: Stan Getz Plays Burt Bacharach and Hal David (1968) Captain Marvel (1972)
with Joe Henderson	Relaxin' at Camarillo (1979) Mirror Mirror (1980) Joe Henderson: Big Band (1997)
with Hubert Laws	The Laws of Jazz (1964) Flute By-Laws (1966) Laws' Cause (1968) Wild Flower (1972) Family (1980) Blanchard: New Earth Sonata (1985)
with Herbie Mann	Herbie Mann Plays The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd (1965) Monday Night at the Village Gate (1966) Latin Mann Afro to Bossa to Blues (1965) Standing Ovation at Newport (1965)
with Blue Mitchell	The Thing to Do (1964) Down with It! (1965) Boss Horn (1967)
with Origin	Live at the Blue Note (1998) A Week at The Blue Note (1998) Change (1999) corea.concerto: Spain for Sextet & Orchestra / Piano Concerto No. 1 (1999)
with Return to Forever	Return to Forever (1972) Light as a Feather (1973) Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy (1973) Where Have I Known You Before (1974) No Mystery (1975) Romantic Warrior (1976) Musicmagic (1977) Live (1978) Returns (2009) Forever [as Corea, Clarke & White] (2011) The Mothership Returns (2012)
with Wayne Shorter	Super Nova (1969) Moto Grosso Feio (1974)
with others	Sonny Stitt: Stitt Goes Latin (1963) Dave Pike: Manhattan Latin (1964) Cal Tjader: Soul Burst (1966) Pete La Roca: Turkish Women at the Bath (1967) Donald Byrd: The Creeper (1981) Eric Kloss: To Hear Is to See! (1969) Eric Kloss: Consciousness! (1970) Larry Coryell: Spaces (1970) Sadao Watanabe: Round Trip (1970) Marion Brown: Afternoon of a Georgia Faun (1970) Richard Davis: The Philosophy of the Spiritual (1971) Rolf Kühn Jazzgroup: Going to the Rainbow (1971) John Surman: Conflagration (1971) Elvin Jones: Merry-Go-Round (1972) Airto Moreira: Free (1972) Anthony Braxton: The Complete Braxton (1973) Richard Davis: With Understanding (1975) Dee Dee Bridgewater: Just Family (1977) Ron Carter: Parade (1979) Gábor Szabó: Femme Fatale (1979) Tete Montoliu: Lunch in L.A. (1980) Chaka Khan et al.: Echoes of an Era (1982) Elektric Band II: Paint the World (1993) Like Minds (1998) (with Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes, Dave Holland) Herbie Hancock: Gershwin's World (1998) Avishai Cohen: Lyla (2003) Miroslav Vitouš: Universal Syncopations (2003) Antonio Sánchez: Migration (2007) Hans Glawischnig: Panorama (2008)
Compilations	Inner Space (1973) The Complete "Is" Sessions (2002) Chick Corea/Herbie Hancock/Keith Jarret/McCoy Tyner (1976) Chick Corea Compact Jazz (1987) Best of Chick Corea (1993) Selected Recordings (2002) Very Best of Chick Corea (2004) Herbie Mann-Chick Corea: The Complete Latin Band Sessions (2007) Electric Chick (2008)
Soundtracks	Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown (1989)

v t e Herbie Hancock
Discography (As a sideman or guest artist)
Studio albums	Takin' Off My Point of View Inventions & Dimensions Empyrean Isles Maiden Voyage Speak Like a Child The Prisoner Fat Albert Rotunda Mwandishi Crossings Sextant Head Hunters Dedication Thrust Man-Child Secrets Third Plane Herbie Hancock Trio Sunlight Directstep The Piano Feets, Don't Fail Me Now Monster Mr. Hands Magic Windows Herbie Hancock Trio Lite Me Up Quartet Future Shock Sound-System Village Life Perfect Machine A Tribute to Miles Dis Is da Drum The New Standard 1+1 Gershwin's World Future 2 Future Possibilities River: The Joni Letters The Imagine Project
Live albums	Hear, O Israel - A Prayer Ceremony in Jazz Flood V.S.O.P. The Quintet (V.S.O.P.) Tempest in the Colosseum (V.S.O.P.) An Evening with Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea: In Concert CoreaHancock V.S.O.P. Live Under the Sky (V.S.O.P.) Jazz Africa Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall Live: Detroit/Chicago
with Bob Brookmeyer	Bob Brookmeyer and Friends
with Donald Byrd and Pepper Adams	Out of This World (Pepper Adams Donald Byrd Quintet) Chant Royal Flush Free Form A New Perspective
with Miles Davis	Seven Steps to Heaven My Funny Valentine Four & More E.S.P. Miles Smiles Sorcerer Nefertiti Miles in the Sky Water Babies Filles de Kilimanjaro In a Silent Way Jack Johnson On the Corner Big Fun Get Up with It
with Jack DeJohnette and Pat Metheny	Parallel Realities
with Joe Farrell	Moon Germs Penny Arcade Upon This Rock Night Dancing
with Freddie Hubbard	Hub-Tones Straight Life Red Clay
with Joe Zawinul	Zawinul
Compilations	Treasure Chest (Herbie Hancock album) The Best of Herbie Hancock Then and Now: The Definitive Herbie Hancock The Essential Herbie Hancock
Compositions	"Watermelon Man" "Cantaloupe Island" "Maiden Voyage" "Chameleon" "Rockit"
Soundtracks	Blow-Up Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert The Spook Who Sat by the Door Death Wish A Soldier's Story Round Midnight Action Jackson

v t e John McLaughlin
Solo albums	Extrapolation Where Fortune Smiles Devotion My Goal's Beyond Electric Guitarist Electric Dreams Belo Horizonte Music Spoken Here Live at the Royal Festival Hall Que Alegria Time Remembered: John McLaughlin Plays Bill Evans Tokyo Live After the Rain The Promise The Guitar Trio The Heart of Things The Heart of Things: Live in Paris Thieves and Poets Industrial Zen Floating Point To the One Now Here This Black Light Liberation Time
with Miles Davis	In a Silent Way Bitches Brew Jack Johnson Live-Evil On the Corner Big Fun Get Up with It Circle in the Round Directions You're Under Arrest Aura The Cellar Door Sessions 1970
with the Mahavishnu Orchestra	The Inner Mounting Flame Birds of Fire The Lost Trident Sessions Between Nothingness & Eternity Apocalypse Visions of the Emerald Beyond Inner Worlds Mahavishnu Adventures in Radioland
with Shakti and Remember Shakti	Shakti with John McLaughlin A Handful of Beauty Natural Elements Remember Shakti Remember Shakti – The Believer Remember Shakti – Saturday Night in Bombay This Moment
Collaborative albums	Super Nova Emergency! Things We Like Escalator over the Hill One Man Dog Love Devotion Surrender Welcome Moto Grosso Feio School Days Friday Night in San Francisco Passion, Grace and Fire Round Midnight (soundtrack) Making Music Universal Syncopations Five Peace Band Live Saturday Night in San Francisco
Related articles	Discography

v t e Larry Young
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release.
As leader or co-leader	Testifying (1960) Young Blues (1960) Groove Street (1962) Into Somethin' (1964) Unity (1965) Of Love and Peace (1966) Contrasts (1967) Heaven on Earth (1968) Mother Ship (1969) Lawrence of Newark (1973) Spaceball (1976)
With Grant Green	Street of Dreams (1964) Talkin' About! (1964) His Majesty King Funk (1965) I Want to Hold Your Hand (1965)
With others	Double Exposure (Joe Chambers, 1978) Bitches Brew (Miles Davis, 1969) Big Fun (1969) Forrest Fire (Jimmy Forrest, 1960) Love Shout (Etta Jones, 1963) I'm Shooting High (Gildo Mahones, 1963) The Great Gildo (Gildo Mahones, 1963) Devotion (John McLaughlin, 1970) Love Devotion Surrender (Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin, 1973) Gumbo! (Pony Poindexter and Booker Ervin, 1963) In the Beginning (Woody Shaw, 1965) Natural Soul (Buddy Terry, 1967) Emergency! (The Tony Williams Lifetime, 1969)