Laid Black is a studio album by American recording artist Marcus Miller. It was released on June 1, 2018 by Blue Note Records. Laid Black was nominated for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.[6][7] The album features collaborations with Trombone Shorty, Jonathan Butler, Take 6, Selah Sue, Kirk Whalum & Alex Han.[8][9]
| Laid Black | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 1, 2018 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 53:56 | |||
| Label | Blue Note | |||
| Producer |
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| Marcus Miller chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| DownBeat |   [1] |
| Financial Times | [2] |
| Jazz Forum | [3] |
| Jazzwise | [4] |
| laut.de | [5] |
The track "Keep 'Em Runnin" is based on "Runnin" from Earth, Wind & Fire's 1977 album "All 'n All". Miller's arrangement plays the original melody over a half-tempo hip hop beat and adds a rap.[10]
Reception
editMichelle Mercer of DownBeat wrote, "There’s no judging an album by its cover. But the cover of Marcus Miller’s Laid Black is a litmus test: The title’s pun, the image of a shirtless Miller gazing with soulful directness and the musician’s reputation itself will divide most listeners into believers and doubters before they’ve even heard the first bass slap."[1] Dan Bilawski of JazzTimes stated, "In liberally mixing aspects of R&B, trap, funk, and hip-hop with jazz, Miller manages to play up their commonalities while leveraging the originality and accessibility of each."[11]
Track listing
editAll songs written by Marcus Miller, except where noted.[12][13]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Trip Trap" | 6:59 | |
| 2. | "Que Sera, Sera" | Ray Evans, Jay Livingston | 6:04 |
| 3. | "7-T's" | Alex Blake, Marcus Miller | 5:56 |
| 4. | "Sublimity" | Alex Han, Brett Williams, Marcus Miller | 6:44 |
| 5. | "Untamed" | Charles Haynes, Mitch Henry, Brett Williams, Marcus Miller | 4:48 |
| 6. | "No Limit" | 5:36 | |
| 7. | "Someone To Love" | 4:42 | |
| 8. | "Keep 'Em Running" | Eddie Del Barrio, Larry Dunn, Maurice White, Marcus Miller | 5:19 |
| 9. | "Preacher's Kid" | 7:43 | |
| Total length: | 53:51 | ||
Personnel
edit- Marcus Miller – vocals, electric bass, bass clarinet, keyboards, guitar, alto sax, percussion
- Selah Sue – vocals on 2
- Trombone Shorty – trombone on 3
- Alex Bailey – percussion
- Jonathan Butler – vocals, guitar on 4
- Alex Han – alto saxophone on 9
- Kirk Whalum – flute, tenor saxophone on 9
- Take 6 – vocals on 9
- Louis Cato – vocals, drums
- Honey Larochelle – vocals
- Julian Miler – vocals
- Charles Haynes – drums
- Adam Agati – guitar
- Brian Culbertson – trombone
- Cliff Barnes – piano
- Russell Gunn – trumpet
- Marquis Hill – trumpet
- Patches Stewart – trumpet
- Mitch Henry – keyboards
- Brett Williams – keyboards
Technical Personnel
edit- Aleks Edmonds – engineer
- Chris Allen – engineer
- Feri Bong – engineer, mixing
- Ron Boustead – mastering
- Jan de Ryck – vocal engineer
- Colin Fleming – engineer
- Jeff Gartenbaum – engineer
- Julian Miller – engineer
- David Rideau – mixing
- Jason Shavey – engineer
- Charles Smith – engineer
- Justin Tocket – engineer [12]
References
edit- ^ a b Mercer, Michelle (September 2018). "DownBeat Reviews". DownBeat. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
- ^ Hobart, Mike (1 June 2018). "Marcus Miller: Laid Black — ice-cool control". Financial Times. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
- ^ Iwicki, Piotr (7 August 2018). "Laid Black | Jazz Forum". Jazz Forum (in Polish). Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- ^ Robson, Andy. "Review". Jazzwise. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ Kubanke, Ulf. "Das E-Funkelium nach Marcus" (in German). laut.de. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
- ^ "about". Marcus Miller. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
- ^ "Marcus Miller". GRAMMY.com. 2019-11-19. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
- ^ Sexton, Paul (2018-06-01). "Grammy-Winning Bassist Marcus Miller Returns With 'Laid Black' | uDiscover". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
- ^ "Blue Note Records". www.bluenote.com. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
- ^ January 2020, Bass Player Staff08. "Marcus Miller: keep 'em running". Bass Player. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Bilawsky, Dan (25 April 2019). "Marcus Miller: Laid Black (Blue Note)". JazzTimes. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
- ^ a b "Laid Black - Marcus Miller | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
- ^ "Marcus Miller - Laid Black". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-02-26.