Marcus Miller's knack of pulling grand melodic gestures from the relatively humble four-stringed bass guitar is the reason he remains one of the most popular and successful bassists on the planet. Yet behind the slick metallic sheen of his patented slap sound there's a seriously deep musician whose arranging and producing skills can surpass his most flamboyant solo bass flights. And it's these hidden depths that add another dimension to his post-Miles/Weather Report-styled grooves here as he's joined by Monte-Carlo's Philharmonic orchestra and some star guests for a panoramic set of originals and re-worked standards. So whether it's the Arabic-funk flavours of opener ‘Blast!’ or slinky Jaco-esque fretless readings of ‘I Loves You Porgy’ and ‘Amandla’, the latter featuring Hargrove's plaintive post-bop trumpet, Miller exercises taste over chops for the most part. The weak points are a rather uninspired ‘So What’ with strings and the slightly meandering set with Midon's fine ‘State Of Mind’ a worthy duet with Miller but ‘Mas Que Nada’ sounds incongruous next a studio version of ‘Strange Fruit’ with Hancock on keys. Overall though a commanding performance from this modern bass master.