Released in 1974, Get Up With It is a follow-up to Big Fun, which appeared in the same year, offering an overview of the recent period and revealing new directions. The funk genre started with “Honky Tonk” from the Jack Johnson sessions, ran through On The Corner with “Rated X” and “Billy Preston,” and ended up in the groovy structures of
“Mtume” where, with the help of the wah-wah pedal, the electrified trumpet abandoned phrasing to work exclusively on timbre and rhythm. The Latin accents of “Maiysha” have a beauty as unexpected as the harmonica and blues band’s arrangements in “Red China Blues.” A rather strange requiem for the recently deceased Duke Ellington, “He Loved Him Madly” was improvised on a base of muted drums and radicalized the pastoral atmosphere of In A Silent Way. As in the first part of that piece, Miles didn’t play the trumpet in “Rated X,” but worked the organ’s chords, held down in repetitive grooves and suspended intermittently, according to the method developed whereby Miles would
cue the rhythm section to stop and then to start again. Even more than in On The Corner, Miles announced the future possibilities of ambient and electro-jazz.
Original issue: Columbia LP PG 33236 on November 22, 1974
Producer: Teo Macero, except “Red China Blues”
produced by Teo Macero and Billy Jackson
Engineer: Stan Tonkel
All compositions by Miles Davis
May 19, 1970 (a)
Miles Davis (tpt); Steve Grossman (ss); John McLaughlin (el-g); Herbie Hancock (clavinet); Keith Jarrett (el-p); Michael Henderson (el-b); Billy Cobham (d); Airto Moreira (perc)
Columbia Studio E, NYC
March 9, 1972 (b)
Miles Davis (tpt); Wally Chambers (hca); Cornel Dupree (el-g); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d); Bernard Purdie (d); Mtume (perc); Wade Marcus (brass arr); Billy Jackson (rhythm arr)
Columbia Studio E, NYC
September 6, 1972 (c)
Miles Davis (org); Reggie Lucas (el-g); Khalil Balakrishna (el-sitar); Cedric Lawson (el-p); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d); Mtume (cga, perc); Badal Roy (tabla) Columbia Studio E, NYC
December 8, 1972 (d)
Miles Davis (tpt); Carlos Garnett (ss); Cedric Lawson (el-p); Reggie Lucas (el-g); Khalil Balakrishna (el-sitar); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d); Mtume (perc); Badal Roy (tabla)
Columbia Studio E, NYC
September 17, 1973 (e)
Miles Davis (tpt, el-p, org); Dave Liebman (fl); John Stubblefield (ss); Pete Cosey (el-g); Reggie Lucas (el-g); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d); Mtume (perc)
June 19 or 20, 1974 (f)
Miles Davis (tpt); Dave Liebman (alto fl); Pete Cosey (el-g); Reggie Lucas (el-g); Dominique Gaumont (el-g); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d); Mtume (perc)
Columbia Studio E, NYC
October 7, 1974 (g)
Miles Davis (tpt, org); Sonny Fortune (fl); Pete Cosey (el-g); Reggie Lucas (el-g); Dominique Gaumont (el
DISC 1
- He Loved Him Madly [f]
- Maiysha [g]
- Honky Tonk [a]
- Rated X [c]
DISC 2
- Calypso Frelimo [e]
- Red China Blues [b]
- Mtume [g]
- Billy Preston [d]
