Marcus Miller


William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. 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. He was the main songwriter and producer on three of Davis's albums: Tutu, Music from Siesta, and Amandla. His collaboration with Vandross was especially close; he co-produced and served as the arranger for most of Vandross's albums, and he and Vandross co-wrote many songs, including the hits "I Really Didn't Mean It", "Love (Luther Vandross song)|Any Love]", "Power of Love/Love Power" and "Don't Want to Be a Fool". Miller also co-wrote the 1988 single "Da Butt" for Experience Unlimited.
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Early life

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

Career

Miller began to work regularly in New York City, eventually playing bass and writing music for jazz flautist Bobbi Humphrey and keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith. Miller's earliest influences include James Jamerson and Larry Graham. 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. He co-wrote Aretha Franklin's "Jump To It" along with Luther Vandross, and sang alongside Vandross on the 1986 David Bowie single "Underground" from the movie Labyrinth. Miller has played bass on more than 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. Miller won the "Most Valuable Player" award 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 and Marcus Miller. 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.
Between 1988 and 1990, Miller was the musical director and house band bass player during two seasons of the late-night TV show Sunday Night on NBC, hosted by David Sanborn and Jools Holland.
As a composer, Miller co-wrote and produced several songs on the Miles Davis album Tutu, including the title track. 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. 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, Miller played bass guitar and bass clarinet in the supergroup Legends, featuring Eric Clapton, Joe Sample, David Sanborn and Steve Gadd. 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. He produced SMV's first release, Thunder. 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.
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. 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.
Miller speaks French and Spanish, which he started learning in his late 40s. He has been known to speak it fluently during interviews, and has introduced songs such as "Preacher's Kid" – a story about his father, in concerts.

Awards and honors

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. His 2015 album Afrodeezia earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.
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.

Instruments

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 TCT preamp so he could control his sound in the studio. Fender started to produce a Marcus Miller signature Fender Jazz Bass in four-string and five-string versions. Later, Fender moved the production of the four-string to their Mexico factory 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.
In 2015, the Korean company Sire Guitars began the production and sale of the Marcus Miller V7, a signature model based on Miller’s previous Fender Jazz bass. They have since expanded their range to include a wider array of body shapes, styles, and price points. Also in 2015, Dunlop began producing Marcus Miller Super Bright bass strings which Miller switched to.

Discography

Live DVDs

''Tutu Revisited – Live 2010''

As a member

The Jamaica BoysThe Jamaica Boys
  • ''J. Boys''

As sideman

With George BensonIn Your Eyes 20/20 While the City Sleeps... Twice the Love Songs and Stories
With Jonathan ButlerHeal Our Hand Ubuntu
With Mariah CareyMariah Carey Merry Christmas
With Miles DavisThe Man with the Horn We Want Miles Star People Tutu Music From Siesta Amandla The Complete Miles Davis at Montreux – box set
With Will DowningInvitation Only Sensual Journey
With Bryan FerryBoys and Girls – 1 trackBête Noire Frantic Olympia Avonmore
With Roberta FlackI'm the One Oasis
With Aretha FranklinLove All the Hurt Away Jump to It Get It Right What You See Is What You Sweat
With Michael FranksSkin Dive The Camera Never Lies
With Chaka KhanNaughty Chaka Khan Destiny ck The Woman I Am
With Cheryl LynnIn [the Night (Cheryl Lynn album)|In the Night] Instant Love
With Michael McDonaldBlink of an Eye Wide Open
With Melba MooreBurn A Lot of Love
With OdysseyHang Together Happy Together
With David SanbornHideaway Voyeur As We Speak Backstreet Straight to the Heart – liveDouble Vision with Bob James Change of Heart Close-Up Another Hand Upfront Hearsay Pearls Lovesongs Songs from the Night Before Inside
With Grover Washington Jr.Skylarkin' Winelight Come Morning The Best Is Yet to Come Inside Moves A House Full of Love
With Was (Not Was)What Up, Dog? Boo!
With others

Film scores

Media appearances

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