New film documentary about bass player Marcus Miller premieres this Saturday

A new documentary about the life and work of bass player and multi-instrumentalist Marcus Miller is to premiere this weekend in Paris and gets a full release in January 2015. Marcus’ discography is eye-watering. He has been an active and busy session musician for many great artists and bands since his early teens. Miller’s early bass lines have left an imprint on music by Don Cherry, Lenny White, Tom Browne, Lonnie Liston Smith, David Sanborn and many more. His writing, playing and production made hit records for Grover Washington Jr., Luther Vandross, Aretha Franklin and most notably key recordings from Miles Davis including ’Tutu’. In 1983 he began recording as a solo r&b artist and latterly as a band leader. He has also been a member of  super-groups The Jamaica Boys with Lenny White and SMV with fellow bass players Stanley Clarke and Victor Wooten. Miller is also a virtuoso bass clarinet player.

This remarkable musician and composer has transcended to the upper echelons of the music to the point where, like many of his heroes and several of his contemporaries, the mention of his first name is enough for fans of jazz to know who it is. 

The film called ‘Marcus’ is made by French company Zycopolis and features interviews and perspectives from many including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, George Benson and Ahmad Jamal as well as Marcus sharing his own outlook and experiences. It packs in one hour and forty minutes of fascinating and revealing insight and gets a full release through iTunes on January 26th 2015.

Marcus also has a new album, with the working title currently ‘Afrodezia’, inspired by his work with UNESCO against human exploitation and slavery. It’s due on Blue Note Records in February 2015. There are also plans for a European tour and possibly a UK during Autumn next year.

Watch the teaser for ‘Marcus’.