DUELING BASSISTS:
Marcus Miller/Marcus vs. Victor Wooten/Palmystery

 

Let’s face it: bassists Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten are top dogs in the jazz/music fusion world, having inherited the mantle from the likes of Stanley Clarke, Larry Graham, Bootsy Collins, and Jaco Pastorious. Both possess wondrous technique on electric bass, both combine elements of jazz, funk, R&B, pop music, and world music, and both have outstanding credentials. Miller cut his teeth with Miles Davis following the trumpeter’s early-80s comeback, left to tour with major R&B and pop acts, then returned to help craft the sound and style of Davis’ classic first Warner Brothers release, Tutu. Since then he’s never stopped being a major presence on the music scene, releasing his own discs and playing on/producing the recordings of others. Wooten came to light as a featured member of Bela Fleck’s outstanding group The Flecktones. He’s also recorded several well-regarded solo albums, and recently released his first book, the inspirational novel The Music Lesson.

These two low-end lords often end up releasing albums within a few months of each other in the same year, so it just seems natural in some respects to compare their most recent releases. Last time out, Miller’s Silver Rain seemed to win out over Wooten’s Soul Circus at Jazzitude, largely because Miller’s release seemed a bit more focused and fit together better than Wooten’s album. Both artists tend to cover a wide range of musical styles on their recordings, which sometimes makes it a challenge for their albums to ‘hang together.’ Now the two artists have again released new recordings fairly close together. Miller’s is called Marcus, and Wooten’s, something of a soundtrack to his book, is Palmystery. This time Jazzitude has decided to review the two albums together and see which one emerges victorious.

This is all in good fun, of course. In real life, Miller and Wooten are not rivals; in fact, they will be touring, along with double-influence Stanley Clarke, as part of the bass supergroup SMV. Both albums feature outstanding performances by Miller and Wooten, and both are filled with excellent guest performers as well. Here then, is our rundown in the latest round of Miller vs. Wooten.

Marcus begins with ‘Blast” a number that utilizes an Arabic/Indian motif, a tenor sax solo by Keith Anderson, lots of string-popping playing by Miller, and an undeniable groove. It’s a powerful blast-off that kick starts the new Miller release in high gear. Next up is ‘Funk Joint’ which, while being funky, avoids a lot of clichés with the darker colors of Miller’s famous bass clarinet work and a tight ensemble consisting of Miller, Keith Anderson, trumpeter Patches Stewart, and harmonica player Gregoire Maret. This track is a bit reminiscent of Miller’s work with Miles, a slick amalgam of funk rhythm and jazz harmonies.

“Free” is the single, currently ubiquitous on smooth jazz and R&B radio, featuring British vocalist Corinne Bailey Rae. It’s a well-deserved hit, full of the rounded tone and attention to detail that one seldom hears from today’s R&B hit factories. Also assisting are Paul Jackson Jr. on acoustic guitar and David Sanborn on alto sax. So far Miller is batting perfect, and when the next track is a Stevie Wonder cover, you can expect Marcus to extend his run. Miller’s take on “Higher Ground” is perfect, with Miller playing the melody on bass, overdubbing groovy 70’s-style clavinet work, and backed by a stripped down group including Keith Anderson and Patches Stewart, Gregoire Maret, Bobby Sparks on synth, and Poogie Bell on drums. The track is well done, but maybe not quite as energetic as previous Miller covers, for example his take on “Boogie On Reggae Woman’ from Silver Rain.

That leads into the first sign of trouble, “Milky Way’ featuring Keb Mo. With its hippy-dippy lyrics and shred guitar, it’s cool, but widens the focus and creates a looseness that leads one to believe that Miller is about to embark on something of a magical mystery tour. And one would be right. “Pluck” is a bass feature on which Miller sounds great, but which the listener will completely forget once it ends. That leads to a cover of the Robin Thicke song “Lost Without U”, which comes off a bit like a throw-away from a lesser Prince album. Then there’s the obligatory rap track”’Cause I Want You” featuring Shihan the Poet. The less said about it the better. “Ooh,” featuring Lalah Hathaway on vocals and co-written by Hathaway and Miller, gets a decent groove back, but again seems designed to dissapate the energy amassed by the first third of the album.

Miller finishes strongly, though, on a musical basis. His version of “When I Fall In Love” is practically a solo feature, with Miller playing bass clarinet, fretless bass.,organ, synth, and fender Rhodes. Some coloring from drummer Teddy Campbell and Maret’s harmonica are all that it takes to complete the picture. This is a ballad track that nonetheless produces an uptick in the album’s energy level and its musical level as well. “Strum” is a mellow vibe that gains momentum from its horn figures and shows off Marcus’ playing to the max. That’s followed by a really nice take on the Miles Davis number “Jean Pierre.” No matter how deep into R&B and other musical genres Miller goes, he never neglects an acknowledgement to Davis’ importance in his career and music in general. “What Is Hip?” is a great jam that features Miller on multiple instruments, Chester Thompson on organ, Poogie Bell on drums, and David Sanborn on alto sax. That would end the album on a high note, except for the coda, a ‘spoken word’ version of “Lost Without You,” which only serves to remind the listener of the weaker points of the album.

I know that people are going to say that Miller is the master of all these types of music and there’s no reason he should limit himself, and I agree with that in principle. But over the course of an album that’s over an hour long (too long for this one), the lack of focus just means that Marcus is an album that will only appeal in part to each demographic group that listens to it. It will be the rare listener who will appreciate the full breadth and depth of the music that Miller presents here. That may be our failing rather than Miller’s, but he’s proven he can pull disparate elements together before, with Miles and on Silver Rain.

Victor Wooten had some issues with focus on his previous release, Soul Circus. It seems that with Palmystery he has resolved some of those issues, as his program here is widely varied, yet seemingly tied together with his personal stamp. The opener, “2 Timers” is a breezy number that is kind of reminiscent of some of Joe Zawinul’s compositions, both with Weather Report and Zawinul Syndicate. Like Miller, Wooten uses a horn section (Jeff Coffin-tenor sax, Rod McGaha-trumpet, Barry Green-trombone) and harmonica (Howard Levy). The piece glides easily between an open Carribean feel and a reggae vibe as the horns and Wooten trade eights. It’s a promising beginning for Wooten’s latest effort. “Camba” has about the same energy level, with a Middle-Eastern vibe (though a more subtle one than Miller’s), and dueling bassists in Wooten and Anthony Wellington.

Then comes “I Saw God,” a Caribbean/South African-influenced number that features spoken vocals by Wooten about the lessons he learned by meeting a figure who reveals that God is within everyone. It sounds hokey, I know, and many listeners will find it that way, no doubt, but I swear that it works! While Wooten has lots of guests and family members (a very musical clan, those Wootens), it never feels like he did a specific number just to feature a guest performer (as is sometimes the case with Miller). “The Lesson” is Wooten’s near-solo bass number that has a Spanish tinge. So far, Wooten has managed to create a varied program that is hanging together well. Let’s see how things progress.

“Left Right and Center” is modern fusion jazz that features three drummers along with Wooten, guitarist Mike Stern, and organist Neal Evans. It’s the funkiest tune so far, and a welcome jam. “Sifu” features a tape loop of Wooten’s martial arts teacher, Brian Edwards, over a piledriving groove featuring Mike Stern, Shawn ‘Thunder’ Wallace, and brother Regi Wooten on bass (Victor plays the solo on this track). The song rocks out nicely, leading to a high-energy vocal number “Miss You” featuring vocalist Saundra Williams and Alvin Lee on guitar. It’s a radio-friendly R&B groove, yet somehow it comes across well, perhaps because it is the first such number on the CD. “Flex” is a Victor feature number that keeps things going. While not striking out new ground, it is pleasant to listen to, if not especially memorable.

“The Gospel” is a lengthy track that features vocals from The Woodard Family, and good horn work as well as organ by Neal Evans. But it doesn’t quite work. It would be fair to say that Palmystery probably has about 2 middle tracks that could have been edited, as opposed to Marcus’ five-song malaise.

But Wooten comes back strong with an updated version of the Horace Silver classic “Song For My Father.” That’s followed by the sunny instrumental “Happy Song,” which has a bit of a ‘70s soul vibe, and is very catchy to boot. Like Miller, Wooten puts a coda on the energetic album’s ending, and he even brings in Keb Mo to play slide guitar on it! But unlike Miller’s Keb Mo track, Keb doesn’t present any vocals here. “Us2” features Wooten, Mo, and Joseph Wooten on keyboards. It’s a gorgeous melody and a soft ending to a solid album.

In the end which album you prefer is likely simply a matter of the kind of vibe you’re looking for. Miller combines many threads of black popular music of the last thirty years, including jazz, fusion, funk, soul, R&B, and rock. Wooten does the same, but he places more emphasis, on Palmystery, on older sounds such as blues and gospel as well as on Caribbean and African music. Miller’s sound is a bit more commercial, while Wooten’s is guided by the muse of this specific project. Perhaps having the story of his book to base the music around gave this project a guiding force that Soul Circus lacked. Whatever the case, Jazzitude is handing this round to Victor Wooten and Palmystery. So, that’s one round for Miller and one for Wooten. Stay tuned next time these two Gods of the Bass release solo albums. In the meantime, look out for the SMV CD and corresponding tour to see these bassists (and Stanley Clarke) face off on stage.