Marcus Miller – Another Side of Me
Marcus Miller
Another Side of Me
(Import – 2007)
by Paula Edelstein
Marcus Miller, winner of the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album of 2001, was born in Brooklyn in 1959 and raised in Jamaica, New York. He came from a musical family and was influenced early on by his father, a church organist and choir director, as well as his musical extended family (which included the extraordinary Wynton Kelly, jazz pianist for Miles Davis during the late fifties and early sixties). He displayed an early affinity for all types of music and by the age of thirteen he was already proficient on the clarinet, piano, bass guitar and had begun composing music. The bass guitar, however, was his love and by the age of fifteen, he was working regularly in New York City with various bands.
Soon thereafter, he was playing bass and writing music for flutist Bobbi Humphrey and keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith. Miller spent the next few years as a top call New York studio musician, working with Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Grover Washington Jr., Bob James and David Sanborn, among others. He has appeared as a bassist on over 400 records including recordings by artists as diverse as Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, David Sanborn, Joe Sample, McCoy Tyner, Eric Clapton, Mariah Carey, Bill Withers, Elton John, Bryan Ferry, Frank Sinatra, Luther Vandross, and LL Cool J, just to name a few.
In 1981, he joined his boyhood idol Miles Davis and spent two years on the road with the fabled jazzman. “He didn’t settle for anything mediocre,” Miller recalls. “And this helped me develop my style. I learned from him that you have to be honest about who you are and what you do. If you follow that, you won’t have problems.” Since producing the mega hit titled “Tutu” for Miles Davis, Miller’s star has continuously risen on many musical horizons.
As a composer of film music, Miller has composed the scores to several hit movies including House Party, Head of State, School Daze, and Boomerang. As a recording artist, acclaimed bassist, bandleader and composer, Marcus Miller is definitely at the top of his game. Silver Rain, released on Koch Records featured such favorites as Macy Gray, Gerald Albright, Bill Withers and Eric Clapton. MARCUS MILLER, ANOTHER SIDE OF ME was released in 2006. It is a Japanese produced special edition with tracks that feature various collaborations between Marcus and such artists as Lalah Hathaway, Macy Gray, Chaka Kahn and Eric Clapton. Miller’s career continues in full swing with something a little familiar and something undiscovered. As Artistic Director of The North Sea Jazz Cruise, he launches a new chapter in his stellar career.
Reprinted with permission of…
