Black Mahogani contains the same combination of quantum sampling and Detroit-love of Moodyman’s previous albums but there’s the addition of live instrumentation, and some of the jams definitely have a more finished, song-like feel to them. Overall, a little less abstraction and a few more hooks define the mood of this 2004 album. 

The nearly-12 minute centrepiece is the vocal deep house of Runaway, an exercise in restraint and tension which gradually warms up with the addition of piano licks and restrained sax licks flourishes before an epic pastoral/cosmic jazz coda. Amp Dog Knight collab I’m Doing Fine is part-P-Funk, part tech-soul, while the title track is a searing live jazz funk house groove with another trademark twist in the tale. One of his most accessible albums, it’s like a journey through past and future black music genres.