Amandla (album)

Amandla is an album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in 1989. The word Amandla holds significance in various Nguni languages, including Zulu and Xhosa, where it translates to "power." It is the third collaboration between Miles Davis and producer/bassist Marcus Miller, following their previous works Tutu (1986) and Music from Siesta (1987), and it serves as their final album together.

Amandla
Studio album by Miles Davis
Released	May 18, 1989
Recorded	December 1988 – early 1989
Genre	Pop jazz, funk, jazz fusion
Length	43:16
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Tommy LiPuma, Marcus Miller, George Duke
Miles Davis chronology
Music from Siesta (1987) Amandla (1989) Aura (1989)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
DownBeat	[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
Hi-Fi News & Record Review	A*:2[4]
Los Angeles Times	[5]
MusicHound Jazz	2/5[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[7]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[8]
Tom Hull – on the Web	B+[9]

The album mixes elements of the genres go-go, zouk, funk and jazz, combining electronic instruments with live musicians. The composition "Mr. Pastorius", featuring drummer Al Foster, is a tribute to late jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius.^[10] "Catémbe" is a Mozambican and Angolan cocktail of red wine and cola.

Critical reception

In a contemporary review, DownBeat said Amandla possessed "a precise and consistent sound that flows through the shifting instrumental combinations and lingers after the music has stopped".^[2] In The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), J. D. Considine felt the record sounded "vaguely African" and somewhat conservative because of its reliance on session musicians.^[7]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Catémbe"		5:35
2.	"Cobra"	George Duke	5:15
3.	"Big Time"		5:40
4.	"Hannibal"		5:49
5.	"Jo-Jo"		4:51
6.	"Amandla"		5:20
7.	"Jilli"	John Bigham	5:41
8.	"Mr. Pastorius"		5:41

All tracks are written by Marcus Miller, except where noted.

Personnel

• Miles Davis – trumpet
• Marcus Miller – arrangements (1, 3–8), keyboards (1, 3–6, 8), guitars (1, 4, 7), bass, drums (1), bass clarinet (1–4, 7, 8), soprano saxophone (1, 3), additional keyboards (2, 7)
• George Duke – keyboards (2), Synclavier (2), arrangements (2)
• Joey DeFrancesco – additional keyboards (2)
• Joe Sample – acoustic piano (6)
• John Bigham – keyboards (7), guitars (7), drum programming (7), arrangements (7)
• Jason Miles – synthesizer programming (8)
• Michael Landau – guitars (2)
• Foley – guitars (3, 4, 7)
• Jean-Paul Bourelly – guitars (3, 5)
• Billy "Spaceman" Patterson – wah-wah guitar (7)
• Ricky Wellman – drums (3, 7)
• Omar Hakim – drums (4, 6)
• Al Foster – drums (8)
• Don Alias – percussion (1, 3, 6)
• Mino Cinelu – percussion (1)
• Paulinho da Costa – percussion (4, 5)
• Bashiri Johnson – percussion (6)
• Kenny Garrett – alto saxophone (1, 3–7), soprano saxophone (2)
• Rick Margitza – tenor saxophone (5)

Production

• Miles Davis – executive producer, cover artwork
• Tommy LiPuma – producer (1, 3–8)
• Marcus Miller – producer (1, 3–8)
• George Duke – producer (2)
• John Bigham – associate producer (7)
• Eric Calvi – recording (1, 3–8)
• Bruce Miller – recording (1, 3–8)
• Erik Zobler – recording (2)
• Al Schmitt – additional recording
• Henry Falco – additional engineer
• Alec Head – additional engineer
• Debi Cornish – assistant engineer
• Kevin Fisher – assistant engineer
• Mitch Gibson – assistant engineer
• Roy Hendrickson – assistant engineer
• Ed Korengo – assistant engineer
• Scott Mabuchi – assistant engineer
• Joe Martin – assistant engineer
• Danny Mormando – assistant engineer
• Dave Wolk – assistant engineer
• Bill Schnee – mixing
• Doug Sax – mastering
• Bibi Green – production coordinator
• Rosemary Kraitz – production coordinator
• Stephanie McCravey – production coordinator
• Jo Gelbard – cover artwork
• Richard Rothman – photography

Studios

• Recorded at Clinton Recording Studios, Electric Lady Studios, The Power Station, Right Track Recording and Quadrasonic Studio (New York City, New York); Le Gonks West (West Hollywood, California); Ocean Way Recording (Hollywood, California).
• Mixed at Bill Schnee Studios (North Hollywood, California).
• Mastered at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California).