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Marcus Miller

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This article is about the musician. For the football goalkeeper, see Markus Miller. For 19th-century General officer, see Marcus P. Miller.

Marcus Miller
Miller performing in July 2009
Miller performing in July 2009
Background information
Birth nameWilliam Henry Marcus Miller Jr.
Born (1959-06-14) June 14, 1959 (age 65)
New York City, U.S.
GenresJazz, jazz fusion, R&B, rock, funk, smooth jazz
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter, record producer
Instrument(s)Bass, guitar, vocals, saxophone, clarinet, keyboards, recorder
Years active1975–present
Websitemarcusmiller.com

William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonists Wayne Shorter and David Sanborn, among others.[1][2][3] He was the main songwriter and producer on three of Davis' albums: Tutu (1986), Music from Siesta (1987), and Amandla (1989). His collaboration with Vandross was especially close; he co-produced and served as the arranger for most of Vandross' albums, and he and Vandross co-wrote many of Vandross' songs, including the hits "I Really Didn't Mean It", "Any Love", "Power of Love/Love Power" and "Don't Want to Be a Fool". He also co-wrote the 1988 single "Da Butt" for Experience Unlimited.

Early life

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William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on June 14, 1959.[4] He grew up in a musical family; his father, William Miller, was a church organist and choir director. Through his father, he is the cousin of jazz pianist Wynton Kelly.[5] He became classically trained as a clarinetist and later learned to play keyboards, saxophone, and guitar.

Career

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Miller in 2007

Miller began to work regularly in New York City, eventually playing bass and writing music for jazz flutist Bobbi Humphrey and keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith. Miller's earliest influences include James Jamerson and Larry Graham.[6] He spent approximately 15 years performing as a session musician. During that time he also arranged and produced frequently. He was a member of the Saturday Night Live band between 1979 and 1981.[7] He co-wrote Aretha Franklin's "Jump To It" along with Luther Vandross.[7] He has played bass on over 500 recordings, appearing on albums by such artists as Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Herbie Hancock, Mariah Carey, Eric Clapton, The Crusaders, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Frank Sinatra, George Benson, Dr. John, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Joe Walsh, Jean-Michel Jarre, Grover Washington Jr., Donald Fagen, Bill Withers, Bernard Wright, Kazumi Watanabe, Chaka Khan, LL Cool J and Flavio Sala.[2][8][9] He won the "Most Valuable Player" award (given by NARAS to recognize studio musicians) three years in a row and was subsequently awarded "player emeritus" status and retired from eligibility.

In the mid-1980s, Miller began a solo career as a funk/R&B singer, with the albums Suddenly (1983) and Marcus Miller (1984). He was the main songwriter, producer and instrumentalist on these albums. He has since then released ten more solo albums, although he has only occasionally sung on these subsequent albums.[citation needed]

Between 1988 and 1990, Miller was the musical director and house band bass player (in the "Sunday Night Band") during two seasons of the late-night TV show Sunday Night (also known as Night Music) on NBC, hosted by David Sanborn and Jools Holland.[10][11]

As a composer, Miller co-wrote and produced several songs on the Miles Davis album Tutu, including the title track.[12][13] He also composed "Chicago Song" for David Sanborn and co-wrote "'Til My Baby Comes Home", "It's Over Now", "For You to Love", and "Power of Love" for Luther Vandross. Miller also wrote "Da Butt", which was featured in Spike Lee's School Daze.[2][8] In addition, he composed and provided spoken vocals on "Burn it Up", which was featured on Najee's 1992 album Just An Illusion.

In 1997, he played bass guitar and bass clarinet in the supergroup Legends, featuring Eric Clapton (guitars and vocals), Joe Sample (piano), David Sanborn (alto sax) and Steve Gadd (drums).[2] It was an 11-date tour of major jazz festivals in Europe. In 2008 Miller formed another supergroup, SMV, with fellow bassists Stanley Clarke and Victor Wooten, for a world tour lasting 18 months.[14] He produced SMV's first release, Thunder.[15] In the summer of 2011, Miller toured alongside Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter celebrating Miles Davis on the 20th anniversary of his death.

In 2017, Miller, along with Common, headlined the Playboy Jazz Festival.[16]

Miller hosts a jazz history and influences show called Miller Time with Marcus Miller on the Real Jazz channel of Sirius XM Holdings satellite radio system.[17] In addition to his recording and performance career, Miller has established a parallel career as a film score composer. He has written numerous scores for films, including films directed by Reginald Hudlin and Chris Rock.[18][19]

Awards and honors

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Miller has been nominated for numerous Grammy Awards as a producer for Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chaka Khan and Wayne Shorter, and has won two Grammys. He won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in 1992, for Luther Vandross' "Power of Love" and in 2001 he won for Best Contemporary Jazz Album for his seventh solo instrumental album, M².[20] His 2015 album Afrodeezia earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.[21][22]

Miller in 2017

In 2012 Miller was appointed a UNESCO Artist for Peace, supporting and promoting the UNESCO Slave Route Project.

In December 2021, Bass Player magazine awarded Miller a Lifetime Achievement Award.[23]

Instruments

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Miller plays a transparent blonde finish 1977 Fender Jazz Bass that was modified by luthier Roger Sadowsky with the addition of a Stars Guitar and later a Bartolini preamp[24] so he could control his sound in the studio.[25] Fender started to produce a Marcus Miller signature Fender Jazz Bass in four-string (made in Japan) and five-string (made in U.S) versions.[26] Later, Fender moved the production of the four-string to their Mexico factory[27] and discontinued both four- and five-string models in 2015. DR Strings also produced a series of Marcus Miller signature stainless steel strings known as "Fat Beams", which come in a variety of sizes.[28] In 2015, Dunlop began producing Marcus Miller Super Bright bass strings which Miller switched to.[29]

Discography

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Studio albums

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Year Title US

Pop

[30]

US

R&B

[30]

US

Jazz

[30]

US

C. Jazz

[30]

US

Indie

[30]

UK

Jazz

Label
1983 Suddenly Warner Bros.
1984 Marcus Miller
1993 The Sun Don't Lie 93 10 7 Dreyfus Jazz
1995 Tales 12 7 2[31]
2001 M² 2 1 27 6[32] Telarc
2002 The Ozell Tapes Dreyfus Jazz
2005 Silver Rain 5 2 15 Koch
2007 Free Dreyfus Jazz
2008 Marcus 191 29 7 3 Concord
2008 Thunder with SMV Heads Up
2012 Renaissance 170 1 1 17[33] Concord
2015 Afrodeezia 3 1 6[34] Blue Note
2018 Laid Black 1 1 12[35]

Live Albums

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Year Title US

Jazz

[30]

US

C. Jazz

[30]

UK

Jazz

[30]

Label
1994 Dreyfus Night in Paris

with Michel Petrucciani, Biréli Lagrène, Kenny Garrett and Lenny White

Dreyfus Jazz
1996 Live & More 8 6 10[36] GRP
2002 The Ozell Tapes Live: The Official Bootleg 26[37] Telarc
2009 A Night in Monte Carlo – Live 2009 16 10 Dreyfus Jazz

Singles

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Year Title US

R&B [30]

US

Jazz

[30]

US

Dance

[30]

US

Adult

R&B

[30]

1983 Lovin' You 55
1984 My Best Friend's Girlfriend 53 36
2008 Free feat. Corinne Bailey Rae 9 19
2012 Detroit 14
2018 The City That Never Sleeps

Philippe Saisse featuring Marcus Miller

18
2019 Korogocho

Kirk Whalum Featuring Marcus Miller & Barry Likumahuwa

5

Live DVDs

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Tutu Revisited – Live 2010

As a member

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The Jamaica Boys

  • The Jamaica Boys (WEA, 1987)
  • J. Boys (Reprise, 1990)[7]

As sideman

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Film scores

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Media appearances

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In 2017, Miller appeared on the Armenian talk show Nice Evening.

References

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  1. ^ "Marcus Miller, Live In Concert: Newport Jazz 2013". NPR.org. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "Marcus Miller". Hollywood Bowl. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  3. ^ "home". Marcusmiller.com. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  4. ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1694. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  5. ^ "Paul Chambers/John Coltrane: High Step (1956)" (March 2009) Down Beat. p. 34.
  6. ^ Shepherd, Rob (February 24, 2021). "Moving Foward [sic]: A Conversation with Marcus Miller (Part One)". Postgenre.org. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c Hunt, Dennis (May 20, 1990). "Marcus Miller Is Flying High as the 'Superman of Soul'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Bio | Marcus Miller". Marcusmiller.com. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  9. ^ "The Crusaders – Healing The Wounds". Discogs. 1991. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  10. ^ Sunday Night episodes No. 104 (1988), No. 121 (1989)
  11. ^ thebeijinger (October 20, 2014). "Interview: Jazz Bassist Marcus Miller Maps His Musical History". Thebeijinger.com. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  12. ^ Larkin, Cormac. "Marcus Miller: 'I came of age during black power. I had no sense of inferiority'". The Irish Times. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  13. ^ Chinen, Nate (June 23, 2010). "Getting More From an Electric Miles Davis Model". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  14. ^ "Stanley Clarke/Marcus Miller/Victor Wooten: The Thunder Tour". LA Phil. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  15. ^ Jazz, All About (September 16, 2008). "S.M.V.: Thunder album review @ All About Jazz". All About Jazz. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  16. ^ "Common, Marcus Miller and Bobby Hutcherson tribute lead Playboy Jazz Festival lineup". Los Angeles Times. March 7, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  17. ^ "Marcus Miller – Host". SiriusXM. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  18. ^ See also interview on ABC Radio National Music Show with Andrew Ford Nov 2010
  19. ^ "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  20. ^ "Marcus Miller". GRAMMY.com. November 19, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  21. ^ "UNESCO | Marcus Miller". Marcusmiller.com. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  22. ^ "Grammy Nominations 2016: See the Full List of Nominees". Billboard. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  23. ^ "Buy Bass Player UK Single Issue from MagazinesDirect".
  24. ^ Bradmanpublished, E. E. (January 8, 2020). "The story behind Marcus Miller's 1977 Fender Jazz Bass". guitarworld. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  25. ^ January 2020, Bass Player Staff08 (January 8, 2020). "Marcus Miller: keep 'em running". Bass Player. Retrieved February 26, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ Heckman, Don. "Marcus Miller: New York State of Mind". JazzTimes. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  27. ^ "Fender.com". Fender.com. Archived from the original on July 6, 2010. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
  28. ^ Marcus Miller Fat Beams at Drstrings.com. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  29. ^ Marcus Miller Super Bright Strings and Dunlop.com Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  30. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Marcus Miller | Biography, Music & News". Billboard. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  31. ^ "Marcus Miller - Tales". Official Charts. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  32. ^ "Marcus Miller - M2". Official Charts. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  33. ^ "Marcus Miller - Renaissance". Official Charts. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  34. ^ "Marcus Miller - Afrodeezia". Official Charts. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  35. ^ "Marcus Miller - Laid Black". Official Charts. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  36. ^ "Marcus Miller - Live and More". Official Charts. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  37. ^ "Marcus Miller - The Ozell Tapes". Official Charts. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  38. ^ "Marcus Miller Scoring Reginald Hudlin's 'Sidney' | Film Music Reporter". Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  39. ^ "Marcus Miller Scoring Reginald Hudlin's 'Candy Cane Lane'". Film Music Reporter. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
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