1 Intro Duction
2 Bruce Lee
3 Villette
4 Behind The Smile
5 Frankenstein
6 Moonlight Sonata
7 Boogie On Reggae Woman
8 Paris (Interlude)
9 Silver Rain
10 Make Up My Mind
11 Girls & Boys
12 Sophisticated Lady
13 Power Of Soul
14 Outro Duction
15 If Only For One Night
Total time: 75.5 minutes
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Silver Rain
Marcus Miller
3 Deuces/Koch
Bass as a lead instrument is a rare and wonderful thing. Only a handful of players are keeping this art alive: Jeff Berlin, Victor Wooten and Marcus Miller. While the former specialize in fusion and funk, respectively, the latter’s forte is a blend of jazz, funk and smooth R&B.
Diversity is a hallmark of Miller’s solo releases, and this disc is as diverse as it gets. He wrote five songs, plus an intro, interlude and outro. Three songs feature a guest vocalist: Eric Clapton on the reggae shuffle title track, which he and Miller co-wrote with lyrical contributions from Joey Kibble, KEM and Bill Withers; Macy Gray on the Prince cover “Girls and Boys”; and Lalah Hathaway (Donny’s daughter) on her co-write with Miller, “La Villette.”
The rest of the record is made up of six instrumental covers, written by Edgar Winter, Ludwig van Beethoven, Stevie Wonder, Duke Ellington, Jimi Hendrix and Brenda Russell (Luther Vandross’ 1985 hit “If Only for One Night,” dedicated to the recovering Vandross, who had a stroke in 2003). These compositions display Miller’s gift for arrangement, and the listener can’t help but smile as the bassist slaps, plucks, hammers, bends and slides his way through them.
Two guns-for-hire in these proceedings deserve special mention: saxophonist Kirk Whalum, and chromatic harp blower and new Pat Metheny Group member Gregoire Maret.
external links
artist’s website
amazon.com
iTunes music store
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