Beyond his work with Luther Vandross, Herbie Hancock and others, Marcus Miller was immortalized as a musician through his collaborations with the great Miles Davis, especially on 1986's Tutu. Having gained Miles' respect as an arranger and bandleader, he has been considered part of history's jazz pantheon ever since, and rightly so – a supreme bassist with infectious, accessible energy, Miller has become a gateway musician, the kind of artist that gets people into jazz in the first place.
Back in 2015 he was touring his debut album on Blue Note, Afrodeezia: a simmering soup of influences whose instrumentation was governed by sounds associated with the locations most impacted by slavery. It sought to acknowledge the struggles of Africans within histories of enslavement and chimed with Miller's role as a spokesperson for UNESCO’s "Slave Route Project." Yet despite the seriousness of the subject matter, Miller's music manages to sound funkier, slicker and smoother than ever. It also proved incredibly accessible, encouraging broad engagement with a difficult, yet vital history, which demonstrates Miller's genius as a communicator.
For the recording, he enlisted an all star team, including Ambrose Akinmusire, Robert Glasper, Cory Henry, Lalah Hathaway and more. Here, at the Baloise Session in Switzerland, he is accompanied by a new cast of virtuosos, who bring this truly atmospheric music to life on stage.
