As readers of this blog well know, I am a diehard fan of Miles Davis and most of his work, especially his groundbreaking fusion albums of the '70s. However, by 1974's "Get Up With It", though Miles was in his prime and at the peak of creativity, there's something to this album that misses the mark. A lot of it is just Miles, in a drug clouded haze, coming up with long instrumental pieces that can't really make a whole lot of sense to the listener's ear.
I mean, for a lot of the record he relies upon playing organ rather than trumpet and finds these odd sounding melodies that are worked with by both he and the band. At this point in time he had a revolving door of different players he worked with as this album (like most of Miles' work in this time period), had sporadic starts and stops. It is utterly one of the weirdest albums I've ever heard. I'll admit it. I am a diehard Miles fan. But, this album, despite the fact that I bought it in order to discover what it was about, it doesn't really have much meaning.
The opening track "He Loved Him Madly" is a weird, Eastern sounding mishmash of guitar, organ and drums, trying to sound like an electrified version of a piece by Ali Akbar Khan or Raavi Shankar, but in the process, being haunting and very mysterious instead. There is so much open space between the instruments that kind of drone in and out that include Miles Davis on organ of all things (he plays some trumpet, but not much), Dave Liebman on alto flute, Pete Cosey, Reggie Lucas and Dominique Gaumont on guitars, Michael Henderson on bass, Al Foster on drums, and Mtume, on percussion.
It's a modal, haunting song that stays in one spot for the duration. "Maiysha", the second track does that same thing. It's in a minor vamp and has a bit of a groove to it with guitar and percussion, but, there is also a lot of organ that though it fits the tune, is kind of incessant. This is the same band for "He Loved Him Madly" except, changing flautists from Dave Liebman to Sonny Fortune. Miles plays more trumpet here and the song changes in places, but not much, despite retaining what could be considered a reggae feel.
"Honky Tonk" takes some grooves from a couple of his other early '70s records (I think "Live Evil"), mashing them together. So, Miles did use recycled material on some tracks. "Rated X" is another haunting organ based piece that sounds exactly like something out of a cheesy haunted house scene on Halloween night. "Calypso Frelimo" and "Mtume" (the name of one of the percussionists on the record), are both grooves that seem to work out OK to the ear, but can get tedious.
The only really cool tune on this record is "Red China Blues", and no, don't ask if it relates to Communism or not because Miles just gave a lot of weird titles to some of his tracks at this period in time. What's cool about this track is the bluesy vamp and also the harmonica played by Lester Chambers of The Chambers Brothers, incorrectly identified as Wally Chambers on the liner notes of the record. Wally Chambers was of course, a football player who played during the 1970s as a defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears and defensive end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Here is the track listing for "Get Up With It"
Disc 1
1. He Loved Him Madly
2. Maiysha
3. Honky Tonk
4. Rated X
Disc 2
1. Calypso Frelimo
2. Red China Blues
3. Mtume
4. Billy Preston
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