Marcus Miller - Tutu Revisited (2011) [2CDs+DVD9]

This two-CD (plus DVD) set is a better bet than last year's A Night in Monte Carlo: it celebrates the same creative funkiness of the mid-80s Miles Davis bands that bass guitar virtuoso and composer/arranger Miller had a big hand in, but here in more focused form, without symphony orchestras or singers. The canny Miller still goes for a soul-pop bravura and some technical posturings Miles would have avoided (hard to imagine the Prince of Darkness doing anything as uncool as swapping quotes from Sonny Rollins's St Thomas with his sidemen, or letting his bass guitarist acknowledge a sharp sax solo with a congratulatory sliding-note whoop) but there's a lot of very inventive jazz-making here, particularly from the gifted young partnership of trumpeter Christian Scott and saxophonist Alex Han. Powerful 80s Miles themes – notably Splatch, Portia, Tutu, Full Nelson and Human Nature – mingle with earlier jazz landmarks, like a tender bass clarinet account of In a Sentimental Mood, and a brisk So What that includes Miller playing the famous Miles 1959 solo as a bass guitar feature. It's as much a general jazz celebration for funk audiences as it is about Miles alone, but Christian Scott is the ideal bearer.

Tracklist

CD1
1. Tomaas (Marcus Miller, Miles Davis)
2. Backyard Ritual (George Duke)
3. Splatch (Marcus Miller)
4. Portia (Marcus Miller)
5. Jean-Pierre (Miles Davis)
6. Aida (Miles Davis)
7. In A Sentimental Mood (Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Manny Kurtz)

CD2
1. Hannibal (Marcus Miller)
2. Don't Lose Your Mind (Marcus Miller)
3. Tutu (Marcus Miller)
4. Full Nelson / Perfect Way (David Gamson, Gartside Paul Strohmeyer, Marcus Miller)
5. Human Nature / So What (John Bettis, Steven Porcaro, Miles Davis)

DVD
1. Concert
2. Documentary - Thoughts Of Miles

musicians
Marcus Miller - bass, bass clarinet
Christian Scott - trumpet
Alex Han - saxophone
Federico Gonzalez Pena - keyboards
Ronald Bruner, JR. - drums

Produced by Marcus Miller