Miles Davis' 1970 Isle of Wight Show Hits DVD

The late 60s saw the introduction of some of Miles Davis' most challenging contributions to jazz. Starting with his two groundbreaking 1969 releases In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, Davis laid the foundation for jazz fusion, and brought funk and rock rhythms into the once sacred confines of the genre. A year later, with his new sound fully honed, Davis performed one of his most legendary live sets at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. It's this historic performance that will be featured in the DVD release Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue, due out on November 16th.

The film-- produced and directed by Murray Lerner, and presented in 5.1 surround-- chronicles Davis' performance on the festival's second day, and features new interviews with a number of musicians from the era, including his sidemen for the set. Fellow Isle of Wight performers Carlos Santana and Joni Mitchell also offer their recollections of Davis' shift in style, which has often been compared to Bob Dylan "going electric" in that it brought Davis' music into the mainstream and pissed off purists and elitists, who were quick to accuse him of selling out.

As for the event itself, the 1970 show was the last of three consecutive annual music festivals held on the Isle of Wight and remains the single largest festival ever held in the United Kingdom some 30 years on. In fact, The Guinness Book of Records lists it as the largest recorded gathering of people, with 600,000 attendees; Davis himself was once quoted as saying, "I had never seen that many people out in front of me before."