Miles Davis – Amandla (CD)

Recorded in 1988 and released in 1989, *Amandla* arrived during Miles Davis's final creative stretch, a period when he was embracing funk, pop, and world music textures with the same fearless curiosity he'd brought to every reinvention since *Kind of Blue*. Producer Marcus Miller wrote and played the majority of the album, shaping a sleek, groove-forward sound that still carries Miles's unmistakable voice front and center. The title itself, a Zulu and Xhosa word meaning "power," was no throwaway gesture from an artist who always chose his statements carefully.