Marcus Miller 1
Marcus Miller in a nutshell:
To think of Marcus Miller simply as a bassist would be to miss so much of what he does as an artist. It is true to say that he is one of the most instantly recognisable voices on the bass guitar, but he has also done a wealth of high profile work as a writer, producer & arranger. He’s also a blistering horn player and not a bad vocalist to boot.
A Little History:
Marcus was born in 1959 and grew up in Jamaica, New York City. As a young musican, he was influenced by the extremely diverse selection of music playing in the local clubs at that time. His first studio session was for flautist Bobbi Humphries in 1977, and in 1979 he met David Sanborn on the Saturday Night Live show, starting an 18 year multi-album relationship. In 1981 Miles Davis called and this collaboration led to some of Miller’s most definitive work. In the years since, Marcus has cut a number of bass-led albums that have firmly established him as a credible solo artist and in parallel to this career, Miller has composed numerous film scores and continues to play as a sideman with some of the biggest names in Jazz, from Wayne Shorter to Joe Sample.
Sounds:
First and foremost, Marcus is famed for his ultra bright hi-tech slap sound, his extremely clean thumb technique and his blend of complex jazz lines with old school groove. On his solo albums, Marcus has also developed an individualistic voice on the fretless, created a distinctive style as a horn arranger and developed a layered approach to production, sometimes featuring a number of different bass parts at the same time.
Words of Wisdom:
(Talking about musicians that are obsessed with their gear:) “If you were a carpenter, you could bring in your toolbox and empty it out on the floor and say ‘Look at my tools man, nice, huh? – Gold plated tools, right? You might think that’s cool, but you’d see the other guy say ‘Look at the house I just built,’ and you wouldn’t even care about his tools!”
