Robert Miller is undeniably one of the most respected players on the indie side of fusion nowadays, and when listening to his new record with Project Grand Slam, The Shakespeare Concert, it isn’t hard to grasp why critical interest in his work only continues to grow. In this recreation of a recent live performance, Miller unleashes some seriously explosive bass play – from “Lament” to “Redemption Road” and “No No No,” there aren’t many moments in The Shakespeare Concert in which it sounds like any of these musicians aren’t at (or at least close to) the top of their game. Their shared love of the medium is the real star of this album, and any jazz/rock lovers who give it a listen are likely to share these sentiments.
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The collective punch of “It Is a Miracle to Me,” “Yeah Yeah,” and “Take Me” is absolutely incredible, and even though they’re broken up with another intriguing performance of “Constable on Patrol,” they flow together like a three-track EP just the same. I like that this album feels like a cohesive set rather than something broken up for the purposes of making a creative tracklist, and in all honesty, I think there are a lot of collaborative projects like PGS that could stand to take a page or two out of this group’s playbook. You could say they’re muscularity-centric, but when it results in melodies like these, it’s hard to debate whether or not the formula works for this crew.
“The Shakespeare Concert” Highlight Reel – Project Grand Slam
In August 2021 Project Grand Slam performed a benefit concert for Shakespeare & Co. in Lenox, MA. Two months later Robert took the band into the recording st…
There are a couple more intricacies to “New York City Groove,” “The One I’m Not Supposed to See,” “I’m Falling Off of the World,” and “Aches and Pains” than what we initially heard in the original versions of these songs, but that’s one of the more fascinating components of listening to a live-style record. There’s an experimental adventure to be enjoyed here, and whether it’s starting with the distribution of smart, poetic lyrics in a revamped “Constable on Patrol,” or ending with a crushing beat ala “Fire,” we’re inarguably listening to what could be some of the best Project Grand Slam jamming to ever make it onto master tape here. That’s something longtimers should be excited about and new listeners can get behind without any trouble.
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To put it quite simply, The Shakespeare Concert feels like everything I had been hoping for out of another live effort from Project Grand Slam, and for being a concert album released in the midst of a seemingly endless pandemic, it takes things up a notch without sounding contextually bound to the era it’s being released in. PGS is Robert Miller’s baby, but it’s also becoming so engrained in a culture of indie fusion at its finest that I find it difficult to describe it in the same avant-garde terms a lot of other critics have. This is the standard, pure and simple, and if any journalists or zealous jazz fans would have been ready to argue with me on that before this LP, I doubt there will be this February.
Clay Burton