MILES DAVIS- GET UP WITH IT


Miles Davis
Get Up With It
(1974)
Columbia Records


Dateline: Saturday, April 11, 2020

Someone said on the comments section on YouTube about Miles Davis’ song “Billy Preston” from this album that digging into Miles’ electric output is like discovering a whole genre of music to explore. It’s one of the truest statements said about Miles' electric period. It’s like opening Pandora’s Box, getting sucked into the vortex and not coming back. This album to me is like The Bizarro ride at Six Flags. First you you get ready for the climb up.  Slowly the intensity builds.  The ride keeps rising and you have this feeling of "I don't know what I just signed up for feeling in your stomach."  As you rise to the top.  You wait.  Some people has their eyes open, some of them are closed but you don't know what's going to happen regardless.  The wait is more nerve racking then the ride itself.  Then all of a sudden, you drop deep down into the pits of your inner soul.  Feeling like you're getting ready to make reservations with the underground.  Then, you go through the cycle of the twists and the turns. Drops and tunnels. More twists and turns.  More drops and another tunnel.  You either feel like a Duncan Yo-Yo or a tennis ball made by Dunlop.  You get a little frightened, you scream a bit but after a while you start to loosen up, embracing the wild and the unpredictability.  When the ride is over, you don’t want it to end and you don't get scared anymore because you feel a little more liberated than you did when you first stepped into the ride.  That's what Get Up With It does to me.  Miles electric period overall does it for me.  Unfortunately,  some people don't wanna touch a ride like this because they're used to being on the traditional rides.  Something tame, something conditional.  Where you know you have a safe space and you know what you're gonna get.  No, I'm not taking a chance getting on that ride.  That's what Miles' electric period does to some folks, especially the traditional jazz person.  Miles' electric period to them is like the plague and they're not even thinking going near that.  Otherwise, they will turn into a creature.  A creature that's far removed from who they were in their past life.  A creature that sees more colors, more styles, less constricted or willing to risk a little to escape from the box.  Transforming going from David Banner into the Incredible Hulk.  Nah, that life is to scary for them.  It's best to stay who they are because once they get touched, it's no turning back.



Artist: Miles Davis
Title: Rated X
Album: Get Up With It
Label: Columbia Records
Miles plays the organ reminiscent of those old haunted house horror movies

Artist: Miles Davis
Title: Calypso Frelimo
Album: Get Up With It
Label: Columbia Records
Pay Attention to Michael Henderson's bassline.  It sound like the Underground Theme from Super Mario Bros.

Artist: Miles Davis
Title: He Loved Him Madly
Album: Get Up With It
Label: Columbia Records
A tribute to Duke Ellington and one of the earliest feels of ambient music.  Many were inspired by this, including Brian Eno.

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