Marcus Miller

• Marcus Miller

Bassist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Marcus Miller has one of the most enviable and expansive musical careers in the industry. He is a two-time GRAMMY Award winner, winner of Holland’s Edison Award for Lifetime Achievement In Jazz (2013), winner of France’s Victoire du Jazz (2010), and he was appointed a UNESCO Artist For Peace in 2013.

Born and raised in New York to a musical family (legendary jazz pianist Wynton Kelly is a cousin), Miller’s characteristic bass sound can be heard on a limitless catalog of hits including Bill Withers’ “Just The Two Of Us,” Luther Vandross’ “Never Too Much,” Aretha Franklin’s “Jump To It,” Snoop Dogg’s “Gz and Hustlas,” and Jay-Z’s “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” and Beyoncé’s “All Night.” to songs from Chaka Khan, Herbie Hancock, Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, George Benson, Elton John, and Bryan Ferry, to name a few. With his distinctive style—a unique combination of funk, groove, soul and pure technical skills—Miller has been referred to as one of the most significant bass players in jazz, R &B, fusion and soul.

Miller’s rich resume of collaborations include a 15-year songwriting and production partnership with Vandross which resulted in 13 consecutive platinum albums (of which Miller co-produced seven), as well as partnerships with artists as varied as David Sanborn, Roberta Flack, Al Jarreau, Chaka Khan, Eric Clapton, George Benson, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter, to name a few. Most notable, after several years of touring in Miles Davis’ band in his early 20’s, Miller composed, produced and arranged the ground-breaking album and title song Tutu, which won two GRAMMY Awards and is considered one of the definitive late Miles Davis albums.

Miller has an endless list of film and television credits to his name. Most recently, he composed the music for the Oscar nominated film Marshall (2017) directed by Reginald Hudlin and starring Chadwick Boseman as a young Thurgood Marshall and Emmy award-winning actor Sterling Brown. Miller composed the soundtrack to the now classic sitcom, Everybody Hates Chris, created by Chris Rock. Miller is also responsible for the soundtracks on landmark cultural classics such as Boomerang (featuring Eddie Murphy and Halle Berry), House Party (featuring Kid N’ Play), and he wrote “Da Butt,” the song that inspired the national dance craze from Spike Lee’s 1988 cult classic School Daze.

Miller has released two Blue Note albums, the most recent Laid Black came out in 2018 following his 2015 label debut Afrodeezia, which The New York Times called “vibrant and expressive… music that frames his playing beautifully.” Miller says: “Afrodeezia was like a musical voyage through my history. I followed the journey of my ancestors by collaborating with musicians along the African Slave route – musicians from West Africa, North Africa, South America and the Caribbean. With Laid Black, I decided to bring the music right up to the present – using elements from what’s happening in urban music today. So you’ll hear hip-hop, trap, soul, funk, R&B and jazz on this album. The music is calm but also powerful and funky, drawing on the black musical experience. Laid Black.”