Pitchfork

Somebody did a bad, bad thing and leaked the Live at the Cellar Door box set about a year and a half before it could conceivably have been released. Apparently, Columbia doesn't want you to hear this stuff just yet, despite sending out promos for it-- if they were doing market research, they picked the wrong decade to tease. You can always trust someone to rip the shit and have it on the p2p streets before too long, and this track, taken from the planned fifth disc of the box, is an argument in favor of making all the good archival booty available ASAP.

Davis' Cellar Door sets from December 16-19, 1970, comprise the music that eventually made up most of his classic Live/Evil double-live release. However, only a fraction of it made it onto the albums, and this version of "Directions" will be a revelation to all of us used to only hearing its second-half jam, titled "Sivad" on Live/Evil. It not only features a brutally funked-up (and slowed-down) take on the song that was already a concert staple, but a blistered-out solo from John McLaughlin that's gone unheard outside of bootlegs until now. Jack DeJohnette slams the beat down at the start, and Mike Henderson's minimal, tricky bass sets up Davis' jungle jab-horn. The band jams for about three minutes before introducing the familiar, now-elongated "Directions" head, and immediately commences to jam another ten minutes before speeding everything up and hitting the lines that are so familiar from "Sivad". Columbia: If you release it, they will come.