It is obvious from the music of his group that
Marcus Miller badly misses
Miles Davis. The funky grooves he uses on this CD sound like a continuation of
Davis' later band,
Michael "Patches" Stewart contributes muted trumpet in
Davis' style, altoist
Kenny Garrett is among
Miller's sidemen, and
Miles Davis himself (along with the voices of several other notables in very brief moments) pops up twice on
Miller's release.
Marcus Miller's electric bass is a major force throughout the music. Samples are used intelligently, a tribute is paid to the late guitarist
Eric Gale (
Hiram Bullock starts off his solo sounding uncannily like
Gale), "Strange Fruit" (a feature for
Miller's bass clarinet) gets a revamping, and all of the music is both danceable and full of development. A few songs (especially later in the program) ramble on a bit and one wishes that
Marcus Miller would drop the funk now and then for variety's sake, but in general his set holds one's interest.