Search - Marcus Miller :: Ozell Tapes: The Official Bootleg

Great live album from electric bass master.

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 04/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""The Ozell Tapes" is a live album recorded on Marcus Miller's tour behind M2-- if you're not familiar with Marcus Miller's solo work, this is as good a place to start as any-- the majority of the material is drawn from "M2", with a few extra covers thrown in (mostly as features for vocalist Lalah Hathaway), a couple songs from "The Sun Don't Lie" and a medley of material Miller composed with Miles Davis.



The band itself has gotten into Marcus' vibe-- the core is the same band from previous tours, and they've really got a good feel for the vibe Miller sets up-- bass driven electric jazz. In particular the music excels on the pieces were Marcus's bass playing is at its most up fron ("Power", "Panther", "Nikki's Groove"), but also in some of the covers, particularly in the ones Marcus really gets in and around and turns into his own-- "So What" turns into a deep funk tune, with the familiar bass line explosively slapped and popped, "Lonnie's Lament" becomes an r&b song, and "Killing Me Softly" gets rendered stripped down as a duet between Hathaway and Miller.



Long story short, this is a great live album, even at well over two hours, it rarely drifts out of interest."

The best Marcus Miller CD...

Ondrej Flemr | Tabor, Czech Republic | 09/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have couple of Marcus Miller studio albums and I like them, but I find them a little bit too smooth. I saw him for the first time this summer, and was blown away by the energy and rawer sound which led me to buy this live album. And to my opinion the best Marcus Miller CD. It is modern electric jazz with great improvising, energetic, emotional, soulful and FUNKY. The sound is recorded straight off the mixing desk and left without any editing or mixing, it kept all the energy of a live gig. Get it!

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