Marcus Miller
An adept, highly recognized jazz bassist, Marcus Miller rose to prominence as a member of trumpeter Miles Davis‘ band of the 1980s, and piled up a long list of session credits while simultaneously launching his own career as a leader. Known for his fluid improvisational chops and inclination toward funky, contemporary-leaning jazz, Miller initially emerged in the 1970s as an in-demand session musician. By the time he joined Davis‘ group, he had already established a lucrative career playing with such luminaries as Lenny White, Grover Washington, Jr., Bobbi Humphrey, Lonnie Liston Smith, and others.
Buoyed by his time with Davis on albums like 1981’s The Man with the Horn and 1986’s Tutu, he was able to embark on a solo career, coming into his own on albums like 1993’s The Sun Don’t Lie and 2008’s Marcus. He also expanded his reach, moving into producing and composing for films like 2017’s Marshall. Despite the many hats he has worn — improviser, interpreter, arranger, songwriter, film music composer, bassist, multi-instrumentalist — none of them have been put on as a whim. Never one to merely get his feet wet, Miller has been a utility player in the strongest and most prolific sense.
The reason why Marcus Miller is important to me is his 1980s association with Miles Davis when he created the Tutu album with him.That was a long time ago now but that period of fusion jazz was special to me. They did Tutu together in 1986, then Amandla and Siesta. It wasn’t long after that that Melanie and I took a 9 year old Paul to see Miles Davis at the Melbourne Concert Hall.
