“Get Up With It”: A Post-Apocalyptic Jazz Album

May 24, 1974 marked the day that jazz bandleader, composer, and demigod Duke Ellington passed away. This sent shockwaves throughout the jazz community as many struggled to come to terms with concept of playing and enjoying jazz in a world without one of its founding titans.

Around the time of Ellington’s death, it would be unfair to label Miles Davis as simply “another jazz artist.” The music he was releasing at the time sounded nothing like the jazz canon, or even within its adjacent. However, despite his growing distance from the jazz world, Davis still felt the pain and shock of Ellington’s death. What would follow within the next few months would be the production and release of Get Up With It. By definition, GUWI it is a compilation album, composing of tracks recorded from 1972–74 and it is a great insight into the mindset of Davis during his late “electric period”. However, I think it’s simply unfair to label it as a compilation album. The release of the album (while indeed motivated by the folks at Columbia Records to profit from Davis’ unreleased singles) is dedicated to Duke Ellington.

the inside gatefold of the Get Up With It vinyl, i wonder what it say on the right side over there

As the title of this article states, GUWI is a post-apocalyptic jazz album: living in a world without The Duke is like living after the apocalypse. No better track encapsulates this empty feeling than the first track, He Loved Him Madly. The name…