Speaking of "dreaming," this Miles Davis elegy to Duke Ellington is so peaceful and serene it approaches classification as "ambient." In fact, ambient pioneer Brian Eno received a copy of He Loved Him Madly shortly after returning from a trip to Ghana. Writing in the liner notes of his 1982 album Ambient 4: On Land, Eno writes, "Teo Macero's revolutionary production on that piece seemed to me to have the 'spacious' quality I was after, and . . . became a touchstone to which I returned frequently."
He Loved Him Madly was recorded at Columbia Studio E in New York, June 19 or 20, 1974, and features Miles on organ and trumpet, three electric guitarists (Pete Cosey, Reggie Lucas, and Dominique Gaumont), Dave Liebman on alto flute, Michael Henderson on bass, Al Foster on drums, and James Mtume on percussion.
Sadly, after Get Up With It, the album on which this song appeared, was released in 1974, Miles fell silent for nearly seven years, lost in a drug-induced retirement scarred by throat polyps, hip operations, gallstones, and a leg infection (see the movie Miles Ahead for Don Cheadle's brilliant performance as Miles during those difficult years).
I bought my first copy of this album in early 1975, just after it came out, and it still remains one of my all-time favorites. Play this track, Side 1 of the four-sided LP, and let it color your life for the next half-hour or so. It's a lovely, stately piece of music which proceeds at its own pace and doesn't seem to mind taking its own time, nor should any of us.
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