| 204th | Top film score composers |
| 41st | Top jazz musicians |
| 44th | Top jazz fusion musicians |
| 56th | Top E1 Music artists |
| 129th | Top bass guitarists |
| Marcus Miller | |
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 Miller in Ancienne, Belgium, 2007
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. |
| Born | June 14, 1959 Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Genres | Jazz, jazz fusion, R&B, rock, funk |
| Occupations | Musician, Composer, producer |
| Instruments | Bass, double bass, guitar, vocals, saxophone, clarinet, keyboards, recorder |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Website | Marcus Miller.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Jazz Bass | |
Marcus Miller (born June 14, 1959) is an American jazz musician, composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist.
Miller is best known as a bassist, working with trumpeter Miles Davis, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonist David Sanborn as well as maintaining a prolific solo career. Miller is classically trained as a clarinetist and also plays keyboards, saxophone and guitar.
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Marcus Miller was born and raised in New York. The first knowledge of music theory and practical lessons he received from his father, the organist and director of the church choir. Miller's first musical instrument was a block-flute. Later, still in school, he began to absorb B-flat clarinet, playing in school band and in New York All-City band. After high school, Marcus goes to the High School of Music and Art (High School of Music and Art) as a clarinetist. He wants to continue his musical education at the Conservatory, but not sure of the correctness of the chosen instrument. So he goes to college with no musical expertise - Queens College.
Miller first took up the bass when he was thirteen years old and playing in local funk-group. He mastered it by himself, using the knowledge and skills gained from his clarinet studies.
Miller spent approximately 15 years performing as a sideman or session musician and observing how great bandleaders operated. During that time he also did a lot of arranging and producing. During the late seventies he was a member of the Saturday Night Live band from 1978 through 1979. He played on over 500 recordings, including those by Luther Vandross, Grover Washington Jr., Roberta Flack, Carly Simon, McCoy Tyner, Bryan Ferry and Billy Idol. He won the "Most Valuable Player" award, (awarded by NARAS to recognize studio musicians) three years in a row and was subsequently awarded "player emeritus" status and retired from eligibility. In the nineties, Miller began to record his own records, he had to put a band together to take advantage of touring opportunities.
Miller's proficiency on his main instrument, the bass guitar, is generally well-regarded. Not only has Miller been involved in the continuing development of a technique known as "slapping", particularly his "thumb" technique, but his fretless bass technique has also served as an inspiration to many, and has taken the fretless bass into musical situations and genres previously unexplored with the electric bass of any description. The influences of some of the previous generation of electric bass players, such as Larry Graham, Stanley Clarke and Jaco Pastorius, are audible in Miller's playing. Early in his career, Miller was accused of being simply imitative of Pastorius, but has since more fully integrated the latter's methodology into his own sound.
Miller has an extensive discography, and tours frequently and widely in Europe and Japan.
Between 1988 and 1990 he appeared in the first season and again toward the end as both the Musical Director and also as the house band bass player in The Sunday Night Band during the two seasons of the acclaimed music performance program Sunday Night on NBC late-night television.[1]
As a composer, Miller wrote "Tutu" for Miles Davis, a piece that defined Davis' career in the late 1980s, and was the title song of Davis' album, Tutu, upon which Miller wrote all the songs with only two exceptions, and one of those was co-written with Davis. 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.
Miller has won numerous Grammy Awards as a producer for Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chaka Khan and Wayne Shorter. He won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in 1991, for Luther Vandross' "Power of Love" and in 2001 he won for Best Contemporary Jazz Album for his fourth solo instrumental album, M2.
Miller currently is bandleader of his own band, which strives to remain faithful to the concepts of improvisation and innovation in jazz-based music that is perhaps more accessible to different audiences. His concerts and recorded works are often regarded as intensely creative and therefore appealing to serious musicians. In 1997 Miller played bass and bass clarinet in a band called Legends, featuring Eric Clapton (guitars and vocals), Joe Sample (piano), David Sanborn (alto sax) and Steve Gadd (drums). It was an 11-date tour of major jazz festivals in Europe.
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 featuring: Eddie Murphy, L.L. Cool J, Chris Rock, Matthew Perry, Samuel L. Jackson and others.
Marcus composed the musical score for the Chris Rock-created sit-com, Everybody Hates Chris, now in syndication on Nick-At Nite.
Fender currently produces a Marcus Miller signature Fender Jazz Bass in four- and five-string versions.[1]
Solo period (1982–present)
Luther Vandross Period
David Sanborn period (1975–2000)
Miles Davis period (1980–1990)
The Jamaica Boys period (1986–1990)
Film Scores
  | Jazzitalia Interview - Jazzitalia - Articles - Interview With Marcus Miller |
| | NPR interview - Jazz Bassist Marcus Miller: 'Silver Rain' : NPR Music |
| | HoneySoul Interview - Honey Soul Music » Conversation with Marcus Miller |
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