R.I.P. Pete Cosey

This morning, according to the private Facebook page of fellow guitarist and collaborator Vernon Reid, Chicago’s own Pete Cosey died at 68… [Pete Cosey] was a classic musician’s musician; he’s not especially well-known, though he played on tons of classic records… Cosey was a key session musician at Chess Records in the 60s, appearing on sides by Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, the Rotary Connection, and Etta James, and he worked with the great Phil Cohran in the latter’s Artistic Heritage Ensemble. He’s probably most famous, though (to the extent that he’s famous at all), for his mind-melting work with Miles Davis in the early 70s: he played on the trumpeter’s heaviest, most electric albums, including Agharta, Pangaea, and Get Up With It. After Davis broke up the band in 1975 and went into semi-retirement, Cosey was never able to build the solo career he so richly deserved. He used his guitar like an abstract expressionist painter, creating thick, richly textured solos with fierce rhythmic power, dazzling colors, and nonchalant violence. He continued to appear on records here and there, including Herbie Hancock’s Future Shock and an album with Japanese saxophonist Akira Sakata, but he always seemed to be planning his own next project, which never quite materialized. -[Chicago Reader]

R.I.P. to guitarist Pete Cosey. Check out a few videos of him playing live with the great Miles Davis below.

Miles Davis (Live Montreux / 1973)

Miles Davis video – Japan 1973__Right Off