Plenty of air miles have gone into Afrodeezia, recorded at slave-trade locations in Africa, the Americas and France by former Miles Davis bass guitarist and composer Marcus Miller, spurred by his role as a spokesperson for Unesco’s Slave Route Project.
Vocalist Lalah Hathaway, rapper Chuck D and jazz musicians Robert Glasper and Ambrose Akinmusire are among the guests on a typically inviting and pop-friendly Miller venture, taking in sauntering hi-life themes, elegantly orchestrated gospel songs, dark and guttural R&B, and a chanson-like episode mingling classical cello and electric bass.
The smoothly frolicking groover Hylife, with its warm brass parts, soul-sax wail from the David Sanborn-like Alex Han, snappy bass-guitar accents and soft vocal chants, sounds like a single, which it is. The twanging turns, chiming sounds and thumping low accents of Miller’s bass-playing still dazzle on tracks such as the Africanised pop ballad B’s River or the breezily shuffling (but rather cheesily sung) We Were There. Preacher’s Kid is intimately gospelly, and Xtraordinary has echoes of Weather Report in its yearning unison theme for sax and bass guitar.
Despite the seriousness of his subject, the versatile Miller’s work never altogether shakes off an air of expert slickness, but some strong themes and plenty of urgent improvising more or less neutralise that.
