Miller, Marcus

Miller, Marcus

Marcus Miller is one of the most influential jazz bassists of the current day. He was born on 14 June 1959 in Brooklyn, New York and was raised in Jamaica, Queens (a borough of New York City). At age 10, he began studying the clarinet and later studied piano, and bass. He majored in music education at Queens College, but did not receive his degree because he spent much of his time working as a full-time musician.

Marcus landed his first professional gig in New York at the age of 15 with the club band, Harlem River Drive. By the late ’70s, he was a much-in-demand session player. Between 1980 and 1982, he was an integral part of Miles Davis’ band and he produced Mile’s 1986 album, Tutu.

Over the years, he has worked diverse artists including Aretha Franklin, Grover Washington Jr., Bob James, Bill Withers, Elton John, Bryan Ferry, Joe Sample, Frank Sinatra, LL Cool J and many others. For well over twenty years, he has worked with Luther Vandross.

He has spent a large part of his career as a producer. Credits include David Sanborn’s Voyeur. Since the mid-1980s, he has collaborated with David Sanborn (saxophone) on a variety of projects.

In 1993, he began concentrating on a solo career. He has released several albums and has toured the world several times over.

Marcus first worked with Eric Clapton in 1991 when recording “Full House” for David Sanborn’s album,Upfront. He teamed up with Eric for the Legends Jazz Tour in 1997 and again for the ABC Television Special David Sanborn: After New Year’s which aired in the early hours of 1 January 1999. Eric joined Marcus in the studio to record Silver Rain, the title track of Marcus’ 2005 CD. (The track appears on the U.S. release only).