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Marcus Miller: America's AmBASSadoor
by Jim Worsley
Marcus Miller is most often described as a jazz, funk, soul, fusion, and R&B bassist. As much as that is accurate, it is a description that falls well short of the mark. Miller is a high-end musical sponge who manages to incorporate today's cultures and rhythms into his compositions, layered within the framework of sound he has polished over the past four decades. He is perhaps best known as a musician in connection with Miles Davis, David Sanborn, ...
Continue ReadingFestival International de Jazz de Montreal 2016
by John Kelman
Festival International de Jazz de Montréal Montréal, Canada July 3-7, 2016 In many ways, the front of one of the festival's new T-Shirt designs said it all: swing blues soul improvisation latin gospel R 'n' B crossroads silence groove world Many festivals once known primarily as jazz festivals have broadened their scope. Whether or not it still gives a festival the right ...
Continue ReadingMarcus Miller: Afrodeezia
by Walter Atkins
Prominent bassist Marcus Miller's new album Afrodeezia (Blue Note Records) is inspired by his travels and impressions through West Africa, South America, the Caribbean along the Atlantic slave routes, and parts of the United States. The multi Grammy winner and UNESCO Artist for Peace pays homage to the African people forced into servitude and the enduring music they brought with them and to the world. The eleven track record features an extensive list of international and American artists including Alune ...
Continue ReadingMarcus Miller at Yoshi's Oakland
by Walter Atkins
Marcus Miller Yoshi's Oakland Oakland CA June 5, 2015 Multi GRAMMY winner and UNESCO Artist for Peace Marcus Miller played five sold out shows with his band over the weekend at Yoshi's Oakland. The set featured songs from his new album Afrodeezia (Blue Note Records) that paid homage to the African people forced onto the slave routes. The composer and multi-instrumentalist opened Friday night's second session with “Hylife" complete with a stirring sax ...
Continue ReadingMarcus Miller and Mustapha Baqbou at Essaouira Festival 2014
by Mehdi El Mouden
Marcus Miller and Mustapha Baqbou Place Moulay El Hassan Essaouira Festival Essaouira, Morocco June 14, 2014 On Saturday a rebirth was being prepared at Essaouira Festival. The most awaited artist of the festival, bassist/composer Marcus Miller was going to play with accomplished gnaoua vocalist and guembri player, Mustapha Baqbou. At the conference room, and on his birthday, Miller confessed that he felt not the least uncomfortable about this fusion. To this end, he explained ...
Continue ReadingMarcus Miller: Miles Davis, Milestones
by William Ellis
Miles at his height in the '50s before jazz took another turn, Milestones (Columbia, 1958) was--along with the other Miles records of this period--really at the height of the elegant era of jazz. Then it went somewhere else that was equally amazing. But I really love the combination of soulfulness and intelligence with which these guys played--John Coltrane and Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe [Jones], Cannonball Adderley and Miles. Just an unbelievable group, and Philly Joe and ...
Continue ReadingThe Complete Arista Albums Collection
by John Kelman
When fusion first emerged in the late 1960s/early '70s with artists like trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Chick Corea and guitarist John McLaughlin, the emphasis was on guitar and keyboard heavy lineups like Return to Forever and Mahavishnu Orchestra, with an equally strong predilection for the intensity and volume of rock and a kind of thundering funk that was different than the kind of music coming from R&B and soul artists like Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire. Parallel to ...
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