All language subtitles for Marcus.2015.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

Downloaded from
YTS.MX

Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

[instrumental rock music]

- [Voiceover] Do I
like the things that

Marcus Miller has been doing?

I love the what Marcus
Miller has done.

He's a marvelous musician,
marvelous writer.

And the wonderful
thing about Marcus,

he has his own fingerprint,
like we all do.

Everybody has a
different fingerprint.

There's billions
of people on earth,

but everyone is
different and you have

to discover that
difference in yourself.

That's what Marcus has done,
he's discovered himself.

So, he's very fortunate.

[bass guitar music]

- [Marcus] Where
you come from as

a musician is really everything.

If you hear somebody
speak, within two

sentences of them
speaking, you basically

have a good idea of
where they're from.

Their accent, the words
they choose, you know.

And it's the same
thing with music.

If you're a true
musician, when you play,

within a couple of
sentences you'll be telling

people who you are and
where you come from.

When you heard Miles Davis play,

you knew that he was from
St. Louis, that culture.

If I had to describe my sound
on the bass it's metallic,

but with a richness,
with a deepness.

And I think it's
really important

to have both at the same time.

I think that I'm a
funk bass player,

but with a huge jazz education.

My music, it says New
York, when I was growing

up in New York there
was funk in the streets,

there was salsa music
here, there was reggae,

there was African,
there was Calypso.

There was everything
going on at the same time.

And as a musician
in New York you had

to be familiar with all
those different styles,

early on, and so as a New York

musician I've continued that.

But you're always
gonna hear my accent.

[laughs] You're
always gonna hear that

I come from New
York in the 70's.

[upbeat jazz music]

[ambulance sirens]

My name is Marcus
Miller and my birthday

is June 14th, 1959
and I was born in

Brooklyn, New York and I
lived there for 10 years.

Then my family moved
to Jamaica, Queens.

My dad worked for the New
York City Transit Authority

for awhile driving the bus
and my mom was a nurse.

I don't have a memory of
the first time I heard music

because music was in my family,

man, from the very beginning.

My father's a piano player,
he plays in the church

and his father, who was
a minister, also played

the piano and my
father's aunts all sang.

And so, music was
a part of my life

from the day they
brought me home.

Every Sunday there would
be a church service

and then after the
service the whole family

would get together
in the basement of

the church and perform
for each other.

I always thought
music was just as

much a part of life
as going to work,

so it's a very
natural thing for me.

But the first thing I
heard that made me say,

"You know what, I wanna
be a musician myself"

was when I heard The Jackson 5.

I was 10 years old and
I think Michael Jackson

was probably 10 or
11 years old himself.

And to see people
who are your own age

who were that fantastic,
it just made you so crazy.

You said, "Man, I can do that."

["I Want You Back"
by The Jackson 5]

♪ Let me tell ya now

♪ Ooo, woo

♪ When I had you to myself

♪ I didn't want you around

♪ Those pretty faces
always made you

♪ Stand out in a crowd

♪ Someone picked
you from the bunch

♪ One glance was all it took

♪ Now it's much too late for me

♪ To take a second look

- [Marcus] In our
school in New York

they offered you
three instruments,

the trumpets, the
drums or the clarinet.

I didn't really have any
interest in the trumpet.

I really wanted
to play the drums,

but my father was
like, "No way, [laughs]

"you ain't playing
drums in the apartment."

So, the clarinet was
the only thing left

and I didn't know if
I loved the clarinet,

but I loved playing
and I was pretty good.

You know, I stayed with it
all the way through college,

but I wanted to
play in a Soul band

and there's no
clarinet in Soul music.

I wanted to play an instrument
that was at the center

of the R&B and the Soul
and the Funk music.

And the bass really seemed
like it was at the center.

And I asked my mother
to get me a bass guitar

and tried to find a
band in my neighborhood

that would let me play bass.

After high school I
was ready to go to

the music conservatory
in New York,

but at the last minute
I said to myself,

"Am I crazy? I'm gonna go to the

"conservatory to
play the clarinet?

"How many job opportunities are

"there for a
clarinetist in classical

"music with a big afro?"

And I'm like, I'm
playing bass guitar,

I don't think I'm as good on the

bass guitar as I
am on the clarinet,

but I'm already got jobs and
exciting things are happening.

So, let me focus on
the bass and once I did

that I began to progress
a lot on the bass guitar.

[upbeat Funk music]

- [Voiceover] With
Marcus, we met at the

High School of Music and Art.

Marcus was playing
clarinet in the Band Eight

and Orchestra Eight which
was a Senior wind ensembles.

And next thing I
know I see this same

guy who was playing clarinet,

Marcus, playing
the electric bass

and so I sat there
and watched him.

And then this is how we
got to become friends.

My father, who was a
big jazz enthusiast,

he had the best of all eras.

I said, "Well, Marcus, man,
come over to the house."

We're playing records
and everything, I said,

"Well, man, who were some of
your favorite bass players?"

So, he says, "Well,
I like Larry Graham

"and I like Bootsy Collins."

I said, "Well, yeah, those
are great bass players, man,

"but, you know, do you
like Paul Chambers?"

And he knew about Paul Chambers

because of Miles's
"Kind of Blue" record.

Then I started mentioning
other bass players,

Doug Watkins and
people like that,

he didn't know
anything about them.

So, immediately
we would listen to

records all day
and half the night.

One day we were sitting
up listening to records,

he says, "You know, Wash, I have

"an uncle that plays piano."

I said, "Well, who is he?"

He says, "Well, you ever
hear of Wynton Kelly?"

I said, "Wynton Kelly,
that's your uncle?"

"You've heard of him?"

I said, "Man, ever
heard of him?"

Went right in the
closet start pulling out

all these records,
you know, said,

"Man, you ever hear this
"Miles Davis at the Blackhawk?"

"Someday My Prince Will Come?"

All these records,
the records he made,

Winter made, for Riverside.

And so, he didn't realize
how great his uncle was.

I couldn't believe it, man.

You know, he got into
it, he got into all

the bass players, Sam
Jones and Oscar Pettiford.

That shows you how much
he was into the music.

Marcus is a very
good sight reader.

He got that from
playing clarinet.

I think what helped
Marcus and made him

become a major studio
player in New York

was his ability to
sight read at a glance.

Being able to look at
these parts and be able

to play these
things note perfect.

And there were some bass players

that really couldn't do that.

They'd put something
in front of him

and he would look at it,

play it once or twice, bam!

So, then he became the on-call

cat and that's how it starts.

[mellow bass clarinet music]

- [Marcus] When I began
playing the bass in

the 70's in New York
everyone played the bass

pretty much based on
James Jamerson's style.

James Jamerson was
the bass player who

played for Motown
and then all of a

sudden we heard
Larry Graham, right?

Around '73, '74, and
he wasn't playing with

the traditional
bass guitar sound.

He was thumping it,
he was hitting it

with his thumb and plucking it.

And we were like, "Whoa,
what is that, man?"

You know, and everyone that
I knew, every bass player,

was like, "Man, I
gotta learn how to do

"that 'cause that's
the coolest sound."

You know, especially to a young
ear, you know what I mean?

Because it was very dynamic,

"boom, bap", you know, it
really got your attention.

So, I was like
everybody else, man.

Larry Graham was a huge
influence and I think

he influenced a lot
of bass players.

I think Stanley Clarke was
influenced by Larry Graham.

Bootsy was influenced
by Larry Graham

and his personality was so huge

we all got swept
up in his world.

I eventually started
playing more jazz,

but I took that
style and tried to

move it over into the jazz.

When I first played with
Miles he heard me playing,

he goes, "Okay, Larry
Graham." [laughs]

You know, because he was
aware of Larry Graham, too.

So, it was very much
a part of the culture.

[Funk music]

- [Voiceover] Marcus,
what you mainly can

hear is who he is as a
creative person and using

the influence from me as
a foundation for that.

He plays the slap bass,
but he also plays the

overhand style as well and
has mastered that technique.

Another thing on Marcus, he
thinks like a lead player.

Not every bass
player can do that,

you know, not every bass
player thinks like that.

Not every bass player
has the ability to get on

other instruments and
express that lead quality.

So, he can do it on his horn,

but he can also do it
on the bass as well.

So, he's unique in
himself and even though

he can play like
other people there

are other people who
can't play like him.

Every time you hear Marcus,
it could be the same song,

but it's not gonna be
the same performance.

Because he's always
looking for growth.

It's like, "How can I
be better at what I do?"

So, the same song he played
at a concert last night,

he played tonight, it's
gonna be different.

Because he's gonna absorb from
the people that's around him.

Whether it be horn
players, keyboard players

or whatever, he's
soaking that in and when

he plays all of those
elements comes out.

So, then he becomes more than
the bass player on that song.

But at the same time
he knows how to then

fall back and be a
part of the background,

part of the foundation and
let somebody else shine.

And he can just lay in
the cut, that's a gift.

[funky bass guitar music]

- Lenny White was tremendously

important in my
career, you know.

He was the first
really big artist

in jazz that I played with.

I met Omar Hakim in high school,

we went to the same
high school in new York.

And Omar started bringing
me around some of

the other talented musicians
in Queens, in New York.

And eventually Lenny
White walked into a club

one day to check out
these young Queens

musicians because
he lived in Queens.

He said, "Hey, man, come
do some gigs with me."

He had just left Chick Corea's
Return to Forever group.

- [Voiceover] We
had a common mentor,

Weldon Irvine, and
Weldon was like a teacher

and he made all of
us in Jamaica, Queens

responsible for the
music that we played.

I had just left Return to
Forever and I'm putting

my own band together,
Weldon says,

"Hey, I got a bass
player for you."

I said, "Okay."

They take me to this
club called Gerrell's

and I see Marcus and
Omar playing together.

Marcus is 16, I said, "Wow,
this is pretty impressive."

And so I become
friends with Marcus,

he's in the neighborhood
and I'm making

my second album
called "Big City."

And Marcus would hang
out all the time,

I said, "Okay, come
on to the studio."

Marcus would always
have his bass,

he would never not go
someplace without his bass.

So, he's sitting there
in the studio and I said,

"Marcus, open up your bass,
man, come on and play this."

"Me?"

I said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah,
play this part, man."

You know, and so his
first record date was

that he played this bass
line on tune on "Big City."

So, when I had this
band that I started

and we went out and played,

I needed a good bass player
and that's when I got Marcus.

And Marcus is one of the best
musicians I've ever known.

Musician, I'm not
saying bass player.

Music comes easy for him,
it's easy to explain,

it's easy for him to decipher,

it's easy for him to
create, it's easy for him to

talk about and it's
easy for him to teach.

No matter what instrument it is.

But I always knew it
when I knew Marcus when

he was 16 years old,
plus he had a purpose,

which is a positive purpose
and he wanted to get better.

[funk music]

- [Marcus] Lonnie Liston
Smith in the 70's,

he was like the first Trip Hop

player to me [laughs], you know.

His band played funk
music and he played

these kind of
atmospheric keyboards

over it and it was a
very, very distinct style

that we all grew up with.

And I actually got to do
some records with him,

it was like my first stuff.

- [Voiceover] I met
Marcus Miller when he
was 15 going on 16.

We were jamming
somewhere in Queens.

I said, "Wow, does
this boy sound good."

So, then after he
finished jamming he

put his bass down, he said,

"I've got a song for you."

So, I'm looking at
this little kid,

I'm saying, "Mm-mmm."

I said, "Okay."

He sat down at the
piano and started

playing "Journey Into Love."

"Doom-doom, doom-doom."

I said, "Oh, you have a
song for me, don't you?"

I took him right
into the studio,

it's on "Loveland"
and the producer,

all the musicians saw
me bringing this little

kid in and they got all upset,
got a terrible attitude.

And few minutes later in
there I can't get to him.

They're all surrounding him.

"Man, he can play,
he sounds good."

I said, "Miles, he
hires young musicians,

"he catches them at that stage

"and he knows
what's the future."

And I remember when Miles was

getting ready to hire Marcus,

what he does is he
called musicians.

He said, "Well, what do
you think of Marcus?"

So, the first thing I said was,

I said, "Good, you
have found your twin."

So, he said, "Oh,
you still strange."

But what I meant
was Miles is Gemini,

Marcus is Gemini, the two twins.

So, I said, "Hey,
you found your twin."

And I said, "It's gonna work."

And the rest is history.

- ♪ We can dream

♪ We can dream

♪ Ah, yi-yi-yi-hee-ha

♪ Ah, yi-yi-yi-hee-ha

♪ Haaa

[uptempo Jazz Funk music]

- [Marcus] Well, I met David
Sanborn a long time ago.

I actually had
braces on my teeth,

I was 18 or 19 years old.

I was making a name for
myself as a young musician

in New York, as a
young bass player.

And David's producer called
me to play on a song for

David Sanborn and I came
in, I played on one song.

That song was called
"Carly's Song."

And a couple of months
later we both ended

up in the house band of
a television show called

Saturday Night Live, in
the house band together.

I just used to love
to watch musicians

react to him the
first time, you know?

He'd play and the guitar
player would go...

Just from the sound,
just from the sound.

The sound was so
distinctive, you know?

And it was one of
my first lessons in

how important your sound
is, not just your notes.

I was probably 20 years
old and I wanted to

do my own album so
I wrote four songs.

And I said to David,
"Hey, man, check out

"my songs, I'm getting
ready to do an album."

And a week later David
called me and said,

"Marcus, I like these
songs, I wanna do them."

And I said, "Well, which one?"

He said, "I wanna do them all."

I said, "You wanna do
my album?" [laughs]

I recorded these
songs and they ended

up on an album called "Voyeur."

And that was really the
beginning of my relationship

with David as a producer
and as a composer.

- You know how it's
funny, like, sometimes you

don't see who somebody
is because you're kinda

so close to the
situation that you don't

really, you know, recognize it.

But, you know, when
I step back and look

at what he does and who he is,

it's like, "Wow, that's
really impressive."

I have a tremendous
amount of respect as a

musician and as a
writer and producer

because as a producer
he's able to maintain

an overview about
what the song should

sound like and what the
record should sound like.

And he has a good
sense of structure

and really good at
finding unusual voicings

and unusual harmonies
and stuff that,

you know, are
challenging to play

on musically and be authentic.

Because he has a
really good, solid

harmonic knowledge of
what constitutes jazz

and he really understands R&B
music and Funk and Pop music.

And not only does he
kind of understand it

and have an appreciation for it,

but he also can get
inside the music.

[uptempo Jazz music]

- [Marcus] Luther
Vandross and I met

when he were both in Roberta
Flack's band together.

He was singing background,
I was playing bass.

That's when I really
got to appreciate Luther

because a lot of singers are
not musicians, they just sing.

But Luther was very
much a musician.

He really taught
me about singing.

So, one day he says, "Look,
I want to go in the studio

"and record a demo because
I wanna be an artist,

"not just a really well
known background singer."

He had already sang
background for David Bowie,

for Bette Midler, for
everybody, you know.

Like, if you look on an
album in the late 70's,

early 80's, he was singing
on everything, you know.

But he wanted to be an artist.

So, we cut some demos
for Luther and it took

him awhile but he eventually
got a record deal.

And his album was an
instant hit, million seller.

Luther and I had such
a good time working

together that for
Luther's second album

we began to write
music together.

And we continued to write stuff

together for the next 20 years.

And I began to produce with him.

♪ In her arms and love me, too

I would love to do:

♪ You couldn't
really have a heart

♪ And hurt me

♪ Like you hurt me

♪ And be so untrue

♪ So what can I do

♪ Yeah

♪ Ooo, yeah

♪ Yeah

♪ Knowing I love you so

- [Voiceover] I met
Marcus Miller through

doing sessions for
Luther Vandross.

He's one of those
names that you can

just say Marcus, you
know, in many, many

countries you could
just say Marcus

as opposed to having
to say Marcus Miller.

You can speak in terms of
a well-rounded musicians.

Someone who really
has made a statement

in so many different
areas from the standpoint

of producing records
and arranging

and writing and
singing and playing.

The thing that I think
I appreciate most

about Marcus's technique
is that he articulates

each note as if he
were using a pick.

It's like his thumb
is like a pick.

Someone like a George
Benson who would

play a phrase [imitating
bass guitar] with a pick.

Well, Marcus does
that with his thumb.

And that is one
incredible accomplishment

and that technique
really does set him apart

from pretty much any
other bass player.

Marcus has his own unique style.

[uptempo Jazz music]

- [Marcus] Somebody
in my neighborhood,

an older drummer,
said he heard me play,

he said, "You need to
check out Jaco Pastorius."

I said, "What is
that, Jaco Pastorius?"

He said, "He's very good."

So I listened, at
first I didn't get it.

But I knew it was important
so I continued to listen.

And this thing basically
just revealed itself to me.

It was Jaco's first
album and I just listened

and it just grew and
grew and important.

I started learning
the notes, man,

and he was playing
a fretless bass,

which is the first
time I heard that.

Which allowed you
to use more vibrato

like a violin or a cello.

I'm playing, and I'm getting
deeper and deeper into it, man.

And he's playing these
solos that are really

intricate and I'm
learning the solos

and I'm feeling pretty
good that I've been

able to halfway figure
out these solos.

But then I said to
myself, "But why did he

"choose the notes
that he chose?"

And this is around
the same time that

Kenny Washington,
in my high school,

had said to me you
need to learn jazz.

I said, "I heard
about jazz from this

"Jaco Pastorius thing, maybe
I need to check this out.

"So I can figure out why,
not just how, but why."

And Jaco was basically the
one as a bass player who

threw me into harmony, he
made me learn melodies,

he made me learn composition
because I recognized

that he wrote a lot
of his music, too.

So, I owe a lot of
my education to the

inspiration I got
from Jaco Pastorius.

I said, "Man, I
gotta learn music."

I was in Los Angeles
playing with Roberta Flack

and I was 20 and I'm at
the Sunset Marquee Hotel

and my phone rings,
I say, "Hello?"

"Marcus, Jaco Pastorius,
I'm in room 226,

"come up here and
get your lesson."

Click, and he slams
the phone down, right.

So, I go, "Okay,
this guy's crazy."

But I did go upstairs.

"Play something for me."

So, at this moment,
right, Jaco Pastorius

is right in front
of me and he says,

"Play something for me."

So, what am I gonna do?

Am I gonna play
Jaco's stuff for Jaco?

Why would I wanna
do that, right?

I said I gotta play something
from deep inside me.

I went [imitating bass
guitar] and he goes,

"I can do that, I just don't."

Right, and at that
moment I recognized how

important it was that you
have your own identity.

And then we began
to jam together.

[uptempo Jazz music]

The other thing I
learned from him was

in order to have a
style you have to

commit to certain limitations.

And what I mean by that is
Jaco played a Jazz bass,

a Fender Jazz bass has
two microphones and you

have two knobs that correspond
to different microphones.

Jaco never turned this
one on, it was always off.

He only used this back pickup,
we call it the back pickup.

And so his sound was
more nasal and more thin,

but you could hear all of his
notes very clearly, right.

But he never turned it
on, he limited himself.

He said, "This is my sound."

And that's why his
style was so clear.

That's why his style
was so distinct

because he closed in his
possibilities, right.

And he never played like this.

He didn't bother
with slap, you know,

he played like himself
and it made me go, "Okay."

I'm watching him and going,

"I want to limit
myself, whatever I play

"I'm gonna make it
work with my bass."

My mom had bought it for me,
it was a 1977 Fender Jazz bass

and I started limiting,
I didn't fool around

with different settings,
same setting every time.

My was both pickups
full on, right.

A little bit more bass, a
little less treble, okay?

Every time, everything else
I would change with my hands.

Every once in awhile I
did have a fretless bass

because sometimes I wanted
to use my Jaco influence.

But for the main, same bass.

I still play the same bass today

and I think that has a
lot to do with my style.

Miles Davis, when
he first started,

he told me he was trying to
play like Dizzy Gillespie.

High and fast and Miles
was working, working.

And he was getting
close, if you listen to

records from the early
50's, playing high,

playing fast and then
he said to himself,

"What do I achieve by
playing almost like Dizzy?"

And then he said, "I'm
gonna be more me."

He slowed it down, more
mid-range, more of what

he felt naturally and
he became Miles Davis

that everybody
considers a legend.

I think Jaco really
set me on that path.

[bass guitar solo of "I'll
Be There" by The Jackson 5]

Miles had been in
retirement six years maybe,

he hadn't played a note
in public for that long.

And then Dr. George Butler,
I think, finally convinced

him to come out of retirement
in the early 80's, 1980, '81.

And the first guy Miles
called was Dave Liebman

and said, "I need a
young saxophonist,

"who can you recommend?"

And Dave recommended
Bill Evans and so Bill

would come to Miles' house
and hang out with him.

And Bill got into boxing,
you know what I mean,

with Miles and they just
became really good friends.

And Bill helped
Miles put together

Miles' first band
for his comeback.

And Miles said, "I need
a funky bass player,

"who should I call?"

And Bill was the one who
recommended that Miles call me.

I was just hanging out,
I was doing a recording

session for some
singing group and the

receptionist called and
she handed me a note that

said call Miles and I said,

"Oh, okay." So, I dialed
the number and I said,

"Is this Miles?"

He said, "Yeah, can you be at

"Columbia Studios
in a couple hours?"

And I said, "Yeah,
you gonna be there?"

He said, "I'm gonna be there
if you're gonna be there."

So, I said, "Well,
I'm gonna be there."

And a couple of
hours later, man,

I'm at Columbia Studios,
man, and we're recording.

Al Foster, Barry
Finnerty, Sammy Figueroa,

Bill Evans and myself
and we were recording.

I mean, it happened really fast.

For me there was no
time to think about it,

no time to think
what should I wear,

what should I practice, no.

Just get over to the
studio and react.

And Miles walked
in the studio, man,

and the first thing
I noticed, man,

was that I thought
he was maybe 6'5.

I thought he was a tall...

Because he was
Miles Davis, but no.

He wasn't that tall,
a regular human being.

And he showed me two
notes on the piano,

F sharp G, and he said,

"That's the song, you got it?"

I said, "That's it?"

He said, "Yeah!"

I said, "Okay, I got it."

And we played, man,
and the first take

he stopped me and
said, "Is that all you

"gonna play, just F sharp G?"

Because that's what he
told me to play, right?

I said, "Oh, I see,
it's just a suggestion."

And so the next take
I played a lot more

and he stopped again and said,

"You're playing too much."

And the third take I
think I got it just right.

You know, where
it was just like,

I played that sharp G
and I played the other

things when I thought
it was appropriate.

After we finished that
take, which was the first

complete take, after
we finished the take

he said, "Ya'll play
like a bunch of faggots."

[laughs] And then he walked
out of the door, you know.

But I was sitting by the
exit and as he walked

past me he gave me
a wink, you know.

And I said, "Okay,
alright, I made it

"through the first song."

You know, and I think
we recorded a couple of

days and then he asked
me to be in his band.

And that's how I
began my relationship.

I was in his band for two years.

You know, we did "The
Man with the Horn"

which was the recording
that I just described.

And then we did a
live album called

"We Want Miles" and
then there was another

album called "Star
People", which actually

had some more live
performances on it

and some studio performances.

But those were
the three official

recordings that I did
with Miles at that

time in the two
years I was with him.

[uptempo Jazz music]

The first time I played
with George Benson

I think I was
probably 19 years old.

George, he owned a club
called the Breezin' Lounge

in New York City and
encouraged the young

musicians to play at
the Breezin' Lounge.

We used to have some
legendary jam sessions.

Tom Brown and and Tom Blachman,

everybody played at
the Breezin' Lounge.

Dave Grusin and Larry
Rosen who had a label

called GRP Records,
they came up to the

Breezin' Lounge one
night and they heard our

homeboy Tom Brown
playing the trumpet

and they signed him on the spot.

It was a really cool scene,

but that was all...

George Benson was the
Godfather, you know.

He was the one, every
once in awhile when

he wasn't on tour,
he'd come and make

sure everything was going okay.

- [Voiceover] When I
met Marcus he was a kid.

The manager of the
group that he was with,

The Tom Brown, was
my manager also.

His name was Mr. Jimmy
Boyd and he recognized

Tom Brown as being a
very important musician

and the whole band,
Marcus Miller he

recognized as being a
genius at his young age.

And everything I heard
Marcus on was a killer.

So, I said, "Wow, you
mean these kids did this?"

I would hear the music and I
said, "That's spectacular!"

We ended up doing the
album with Earl Klugh

called "Collaboration", his
playing was outstanding.

He gave us platform
to spring out from.

He didn't lock us down
into any one vibe.

He gave us room to
breathe because he

understands harmony so well.

I don't measure
him by his sound,

I measure him by his character.

The character that
comes from him when he

speaks on an instrument
is subtle power.

You know, if you try
to compare him to

a rock 'n roll or
bass R&B funk player

you'd be doing him an
injustice because he

doesn't have to play
loud to be effective.

His stuff is always musical.

[mid-tempo Jazz music]

- [Marcus] I was
doing a lot of work as

a side man with Luther Vandross,

with David Sanborn and I
made two albums on my own.

But I wasn't so satisfied
with the albums,

I don't really have a
true sound for myself.

What should I do?

And I said, "Well,
why don't I just relax

"and play with people
I grew up with."

Lenny White, Bernard
Wright, they both

come from an area
in New York called

Jamaica, Queens which is
where I come from as well.

And I said to them, "Okay,
let's do a group together

"where we can just experiment
with different sounds."

And that's what we
did and we formed

the group Jamaica
Boys and initially we

thought we would go
and do Jazz, you know.

But when we got into
the studio we were like,

"Hey, you know what,
maybe we should try

"to do something a
little different."

And that's how it started, man.

And we got the
brother of Chaka Khan,

his name is Mark Stevens
and he became our singer.

Our music was a little
bit different from what

was going on the middle 80's,

but I still love what
we did and I think

I took a lot of my
experiences from Jamaica Boys

when I started
writing with Miles.

- ♪ Don't start with me

♪ Spend a little time with me

♪ Oh, oh

♪ Come on, let's spend some time

♪ Don't start with me

♪ Spend a little time with me

♪ Oh, oh

♪ Well, I know

♪ All we need is time together

♪ Oooh

♪ Just a little time to know you

♪ Come on, baby, I'll
begin to show you

♪ Don't you want to
spend some time with me

♪ Just a little time

- Miles was moving
into another era.

Nobody knew where he was
trying to go, only he knew.

And when he selected
Marcus Miller,

because Marcus was a very
game-wise young fellow,

good intellect, great
command of his instrument,

full of ideas,
great sound and he

had a great love for Miles.

I think he understood
was Miles was

trying to do and
so he fit right in.

And that song "Tutu"
was a great example

of what that combination
could accomplish.

Miles' great ability
to improvisate

and create a picture
against Marcus Miller's

melody and his
harmonies underneath.

It was a great one, that's
a historic meeting there.

- [Marcus] I heard
that Miles moved,

he left Columbia
which was a big deal

because he has been on
Columbia for a long time.

And he moved to Warner Brothers.

I was signed to Warner
Brothers at the time

so I knew everybody
at Warner Brothers.

So, I called Tommy
LiPuma who's the head of

A&R there at Warner
Brothers and I said,

"Tommy, you guys just
signed Miles Davis?"

And he said, "Yeah, man,
and Miles is looking

"to do something new
and contemporary,

"do you have any music?"

And I said, "Well, yeah."

I didn't have anything
but I said, "Of course."

And he said, "Well,
I'm gonna send you

"what George Duke
wrote for Miles."

And when I heard what
George Duke wrote,

it was contemporary, it
was using synthesizers

and samples like, very
current, like right up to date.

And I said, "Whoa, if
Miles is interested

"in going this route,
this is really exciting."

I called Tommy LiPuma
later and said,

"Hey, I have some songs, man."

Amd he said, "Well,
come out to L.A.

"and we'll listen
to them together."

So, I flew out to
L.A. and I played my

cassette demo for Tommy
LiPuma and he said,

"This is great,
let's record it."

And I said, "Okay,
where's the band?"

He said, "No, no, no, no.

"let's not use the
band, let's do it

"the same way that
your demo was done.

"How'd you do that?"

And I said, "I just played
all the instruments myself."

He said, "Okay, let's
do it like that."

And I said, "This is
a Miles Davis record,

"this is not like
a pop R&B record."

He said, "Yeah, but this is
great, this is different,

"I think Miles will
really like this."

So, I called a rental
company and had them send

all the instruments and
just got to working,

just building the tracks up.

And then Miles came
in after three days

to hear what I was
doing and he said,

"Oh, man, that sounds
great, keep going,

"let me know when
you need trumpet."

Okay, so a few days
after that I called Miles

and he came in and he
put the trumpet on.

And it was difficult
for me initially to

instruct him because
he was Miles Davis,

you know, I had so
much respect for him.

Man, I was 25 or
something like that at

the time and to be
telling Miles what

to do was a little intimidating.

But he said, "You gotta
tell me what to do

"because you know this music.

"You have in your
head exactly what it's

"supposed to sound
like, so tell me."

So, after a couple
of, "Miles, do this,

"Miles do that", after I
got into it a little bit

it started sounding so good that

I lost my inhibition
and started really

kinda telling him
what I liked to hear.

And after Miles had
recorded his parts

I started calling some
other musicians to

come in add things to
react to Miles so that it

didn't sound just like a
track with Miles on top of it.

[mid-tempo Jazz music]

See that hat, man, that's what

I'm talking about right there.

That's the hat, man.

And that was the bass player in

Charlie Parker's band at
the time, Tommy Potter.

A lot of guys used to wear
this hat in this time.

Lester Young was
the most famous one,

but a lot of guys wore it.

But I like wearing mine as a

connection to this
period, you know.

'49, man, the 50's
to me seemed like the

end of a period of a...

Harmonically kind of

a tonal Jazz and then
after that people

started going outside
the harmony to

try to take it to
the next level.

But the 50's, man, was
like, you had to be

clever and you had to
know all your tunes.

You know, all the
standard Jazz tunes

and you had to try to
figure out a new way

to approach them and it
had to swing really hard.

It required a lot
from the musicians.

I always wondered
whether Miles was

actually trying to make
you grow or he just

liked making people
uncomfortable.

Because Charlie Parker
made him uncomfortable.

Charlie Parker would
always put Miles

in uncomfortable
situations, like he'd leave

Miles on the bandstand
while he left

and he wouldn't come
back for a long time.

And Miles was up
there trying to figure

out after five, six
choruses, 17 choruses,

what do I do now, you know?

So, Charlie Parker put
him in those situations

and sometimes I think
that Miles just spent

the rest of his life making
everybody else pay. [laughs]

With "Tutu" we still knew
who was really in charge.

[laughs] You know what I mean?

It was still Miles because
if there's something

I had on there that he
didn't like he'd just say,

"Oh, yeah, take that
piano outta there,

"you don't need the piano."

And when he played he
commanded the whole picture.

What's really surprising
when I think about it now

is that this thing was
really modern and it was

really a different way
of making music for him.

And he never seemed
uncomfortable for a second.

And I'm just now
realizing that, you know,

there are some Jazz musicians
who couldn't overdub.

And that never
happened with Miles,

he was like, "How about this?"

And not only did he get
into it but he found

different ways to
do it, you know.

He was saying,
"Hey, run that back,

"I wanna try something else.

"I wanna try another approach."

You know, he
completely embraced it

without a second of transition.

Man, the guy was 61 years old.

He could have been like,

"Marcus, now what happens,
where are the musicians?"

Or, "What am I
supposed to play to the

"music I hear in the headphone?"

He could have very easily
been uncomfortable,

but he was like ahead
of it and it's just

a testament to how
forward-thinking he was.

He was completely ready for

a new situation,
a new challenge.

In "Tutu" when I was
building this track up,

I tried to incorporate all of

Miles' previous periods
in this one tune.

So, if you listen to the drums
the beat is from New Orleans.

It's a beat that he had
shown me years before,

he called it a New Orleans
two-step or something.

And the harmony
is from the 60's,

you know, like it's
kind of Gil Evans

and Herbie Hancock
type of harmony.

And there's ensemble
paying with soft brass,

like the trombones,
from the 50's,

like the "The Birth
of the Cool", right.

And then there's a force
kind of harmony that

Miles started experimenting
with in the 70's, right.

So, I had elements from every
one of his eras in "Tutu."

So, I was really excited
to see which of those

elements he was gonna
connect to and the thing

that he connected to was
the Blues elements of it.

[mid-tempo Jazz music]

When I hear "Tutu" I
definitely hear the 80's,

but I think there's
some depth to the music.

It wasn't just about
the modern sounds.

And I think if you have
melodies and you have harmonies,

the traditional music elements,

then there's a good chance that

that music will transcend
the era that it was

created in and maybe
it'll appeal to people

in the future down
the road when it's

no longer the sound of the day.

It's a scary thing when
you're doing, like,

contemporary music
because you have no

guarantee that your
music will ever make

it out of the little window
that you're creating it in.

If you play a more
traditional form of Jazz

that's already
proven to be timeless

then you don't have that worry.

But to create something
for that moment,

you never know, you're
just taking a chance.

But that's what
Miles was all about

and I think if you
create something that's

of that moment and it
ends up becoming timeless,

that's the ultimate win.

- [Voiceover] The song and
the arrangement in "Tutu",

that really fit Miles
Davis' sound in particular

for that period of
Miles' expression.

Funky sound, urban
groove, all those

things were there with "Tutu."

So, from listening to it I
felt like this is something

that Miles is really having
a good time with, you know.

And I've had a chance
to play "Tutu" with

Marcus and frankly
I had to ask him,

"How did you voice
these chords?"

He had to show me, you
know, I couldn't easily

pick it up from the recordings.

For the most part I
don't usually have to

ask musicians how they
voice a certain chord.

I can usually hear
it on the record,

but with that it was so
cleverly put together

that it's a lovely
tribute to not only

Miles Davis but a
tribute to Marcus Miller.

[uptempo Jazz music]

- [Marcus] I think the
thing I would like people

to remember about Miles
is that he was hip.

Not shallow hip, not I just
pay whatever's current,

but he was always
looking for the

depth in what it is that's new.

The first thing I
admire about Miles

was how natural his genius was.

You know, I know a
lot of great musicians

who have to consider
what they should do.

You know, they go,
"Okay, let me think,

"what would be the most
profound thing I can do?"

You knw, and they
really work at it

and not that Miles didn't
work at what he did,

but it came very naturally.

You know, "I'm tired of this
I think I'm gonna do that."

And then he put the thought
into it and the work into it.

And I really was struck
by that and I think

I subconsciously, now
that I'm talking about it,

I realize that I've
kinda used that.

In terms of what I should do,

and just go, "Well, what
do I feel like doing?"

And the other thing
was that he was always

true to himself, he was
a very complicated guy,

but the one thing
that I observed was

that if he felt like
there was something he

should do musically, he did it.

He never did anything
for anybody else

because anyone else
said that that's

what they thought he should do.

He did what he thought
he should be doing.

The third thing about
Miles that I respect, man,

is that he had that
beautiful combination

for me of his head
and his heart.

And some people
are really cerebral

and some people
are really soulful

and they play or they speak
with all this passion.

But the people that
I really admire have

this really beautiful
balance of the two.

They do all this thought,

but they way they put it
across is with a soulfulness.

And I think Martin Luther
King was like that,

you could tell that he was
doing all this studying.

He studied Gandhi, he studied
all these philosophies.

But then when he
relayed it to the people

he did it through a soulfulness,

with emotion and it
really put it across.

And John Coltrane
did the same thing,

Malcolm X and Miles
Davis absolutely

had that combination, I
really admire that about him.

[mid-tempo Jazz music]

I think there's
absolutely before Miles

and after Miles for me the
main thing was confidence.

Because once you've
played with Miles,

if he's told you that he
loves what you're doing,

you're not really walking around

looking for that kind
of validation anymore.

You already got it
from Miles Davis,

who else do you need to tell
you that you're doing okay.

So, then it was really
more, "What do I want

"to express, how do
I want to say it?"

You know what I mean?

"What kind of musical area
do I want to move into now?"

Those are the kinds of
things that you start to

concern yourself with,
which means you're growing.

I remember once I took
a solo, Miles, he said,

"Man, wouldn't it be
cool if you could play

"the roots and also play
your solo at the same time?"

It was a very simple
statement but it was

like the whole problem
with bass solos,

is that when you
begin to solo there's

nobody playing the
bass beneath you.

All the other musicians
have the advantage,

have the benefit of a
bass playing underneath

you that gives you the support.

And then when you play
a solo on the bass

there's nobody playing
the bass for you.

He nailed it, he nailed
the dilemma of the

bass player just in
that simple statement.

And I found myself
from that point

dropping the bass
notes and then solo,

and dropping the bass notes.

So, I was going back and
forth to get the best

of both worlds and
I think that really

influenced my style of
soloing, you know what I mean?

That you'll hear a
bass line and a solo

in my solos at the same time.

[uptempo Jazz music]

- When Marcus does
this on the bass,

he has a facility
on the bass that's

unparalleled by, you know...

I mean unparalleled
meaning other people

could do it if they
did it, that they could

do their own, you know.

But most people stop
at the place where

it becomes convenient and it

becomes like a job,
I'm playing a job.

But Marcus can do things

with his bass, with his fingers

and then write down many kinds

of story.

I think that Marcus has
all the complications for

piercing the unknown
without a care

in the world about
any consequences.

Consequences mean like,
sometimes you think

you're gonna betray
your gut feeling.

Marcus, he can stand on
his own and not going

around with his hand in
his hat for assistance

because something doesn't work.

He's the kind of a person
that Miles admired,

he would like to admire
the fact that someone

left or going on
and not coming back

to him for assistance.

- [Marcus] "Man,
I gotta go to Mars

"and get some more notes."

That's what Wayne
Shorter said once, man.

Somebody said, "Wayne,
how you doing?"

He goes, "I gotta go to
Mars and get more notes."

Wayne Shorter's incredible, man.

This guy is truly
a creative genius.

It's just so beautiful
to be around him

and he naturally thinks
along a different path.

I worked on an album where
I produced for Wayne,

an album called "High Life."

As a producer your job
is to almost limit the

creativity because
he has so many ideas.

I'm sitting with him, I said,

"Wayne, what's the
most important thing

"for composition, just
give me one thing."

He said, "Composition is
just imagining something

"that's not here
yet, but hearing it

"completely in your head and not

"being afraid of
your imagination."

And that really affected me.

[uptempo Jazz music]

I first heard Al
Jarreau when I was

a teenager and he was
singing "Take Five."

I'd never heard a
singer like this before.

I heard a lot of jazz singers,

but they all were in the
older style, you know.

They all tried to sing like
Ella Fitzgerald, you know,

or Lambert, Hendricks and Ross.

And this was the first guy,

he was singing Jazz
Fusion with his voice

and it seemed so natural,
he was using every

sound that he could
make from his voice.

A lot of singers work
hard to eliminate

certain sounds from their voice.

Their voice teacher will say
don't ever use that sound,

make it more round,
make it more full.

Don't sing like this.

Al Jarreau never
took those lessons.

He uses everything that
comes out of his mouth.

So he goes, "Dane,
dane, dane, dane,

"nuna, nane, nane,
nane, nay-yay."

He sings like that,
he sings very full.

He uses everything,
it's pure imagination.

And he was the
first singer to me

who was a true jazz musician.

Years go by and I
start to work with

David Sanborn who had
the same manager as

Al Jarreau and I'm in
David Sanborn's band

and we would be the
opening act for Al Jarreau.

This was in the
80's when Al Jarreau

was a huge, huge pop star.

In the 90's they asked
me to produce Al Jarreau.

It was an exciting
thing for me and what

I wanted to do because
his pop thing had

been running for maybe
10, 15 years now.

And I said, "You know,
it would be nice to

"return to a little bit
more of a Jazz feeling

"of Al Jarreau's
improvisational talent."

I suggested that to
them and they said,

"This might be a good
time to do that."

So, I put together
a band and the idea

was to do it live but
have it be studio quality.

- [Voiceover] You know,
by the time we did

the "Tenderness" record
Marcus was becoming

a famous producer,
you know. [laughs]

He was kinda like
my little cousin,

my little brother, you
know, playing bass with

David Sanborn, on
tour on with me

and David Sanborn, pretty
soon he's producing

records for everybody
in the world and having

big hit songs on the radio.

So, it was just a
natural thing for Marcus

and I to start thinking about
doing a record together.

And that was our first time
doing some music together

and I think we did
some nice music.

A lot of people think
it's one of the most

important projects that
I did right alongside

"Look to the Rainbow Live."

♪ It has occurred to me that
you should go right ahead

♪ Go 'head

♪ I know you don't want to hear

♪ You gon' do what
you want to do

♪ You, Jackson, you

♪ Yeah, you

♪ I see you, I'm watching you

♪ Take your money and run

♪ Even got groceries
and running too

♪ You're running and hiding,
and ducking and hiding

♪ And selling 10 pounds
coals in factories

♪ And I can't find
no job, no where

♪ I assaulted your mama

♪ I beat your daddy

♪ Go 'head [backup
vocals down out Al]

♪ Going to be there in my
own time, in my own way

♪ [mumbling]

♪ See me

♪ Say you don't see me

♪ You don't see me

♪ Don't see me

♪ You don't see me

♪ When I'm trying
to do right, baby

♪ You gon' see me now

♪ You gon' see me

♪ When I'm trying to do right

♪ [backup singers drown
out Al] see me now

♪ You don't see me

♪ When I've been trying
to do right, baby

♪ You don't see me when
I'm trying to do right

♪ Baby, if you
could see me now ♪

- [Marcus] When I was
a kid, I was probably

about 13 years old and
I was in the basement of

a friend of mine, that's
where we used to hang out.

We used to listen to
music and each of us

would have albums and
we'd challenge each other.

"Well, you think what
you play is cool,

"but have you heard this?"

So, we were doing
that kind of thing.

And this guy came
downstairs into the basement

and said, "I got ya'll today
'cause check this out."

And he put this record
on and the bass went

[imitating bass sound]

and we all just stood there

with our jaws
dropped because we'd

never heard anything that funky.

We thought it was a
bass guitar playing it,

we never heard a bass
guitar sound like that.

Well, it turns out that
it wasn't a bass guitar,

it was Herbie Hancock playing
on a bass synthesizer.

But you know,
synthesizers were new at

that time and we'd never
heard anything like it.

And then we were
tripping out because we'd

look on the back
of the album at the

instruments that
these guys played

and Herbie Hancock,
under the instruments

that he played, he had listed

about 13 instruments, you know.

And we hadn't heard
of any of them.

What's an ARP Odyssey,
what's a clavinette?

We didn't know any
of these names so it

was like a music
lesson and at the

same time our heads are
going like this, you know.

And in the middle of
that song Herbie went

to the Fender Rhodes and
played this incredible

Jazz solo and none of us
knew anything about Jazz.

"Head Hunters", that album
did so many things for us.

It made us want to
learn about instruments,

we wanted to learn what
all these instruments

on the back of this
album were and we

wanted to learn what Jazz was.

Because if this is Jazz, we
decided that we liked Jazz.

[uptempo Jazz music]

One day Herbie called
me in and said,

"Look, I'm gonna put together a

"group called Headhunters 2005

"and I'd you to play in it."

I said, "Oh, no
problem, I'm there."

And I'd been leading
my band for a long time

and I hadn't seen doing
any side man stuff.

But if I was gonna
do one side man gig,

playing with the Headhunters,

that was the gig I was gonna do.

So, we got together
and Herbie called me

before the rehearsals and said,

"Marcus, do you
want me to send you

"the music to any
of this stuff?"

I said, "Man, I know this
music better than you do."

[laughs] It turned out I
wasn't quite right about that,

but I did know the
music pretty well.

In the band was Terri
Lyne Carrington on drums,

and Lionel Loueke played guitar.

John Mayer played guitar as
well on a few gigs with us.

Roy Hargrove played trumpet
and Kenny Garrett played sax.

And Munyungo played percussion.

- [Voiceover] One of
the most incredible

things about Marcus
is that he can make

music under any number
of musical environments.

He transcends all of that.

That he has the ability
to get right to the heart

of whatever

choice of expression for that

band's sound whether it's
an orchestra or whether

it's a small Jazz
group or a Funk group

or whether it's R&B or
Country or whatever it is.

He finds his own
voice within that.

[uptempo Jazz music]

- [Marcus] In the early
2000's Victor Wooten

called Stanley
Clarke, he called me

and he said, "Man,
we should do a group

"together like The Three Tenors,

"we should be like
The Three Bassists."

And Stanley and I thought
it was a funny idea,

but we didn't take
it too seriously.

And then in 2007
there's a magazine here

in the United States called
Bass Player magazine.

And Bass Player magazine,
every year they give

a lifetime achievement
award to a bass player

and in 2007 the lifetime
achievement award

went to Stanley Clarke
and Bass Player magazine

called myself, they
called Victor Wooten.

And they said, "Would
you guys like to be

"the presenters
to Stanley Clarke?

"You can give a little
speech about how

"important Stanley
Clarke is and then

"you can hand him his award."

So, that's what we did
and then after the award

was presented we did a jam
session, the three of us.

People were surprised to
see that three bassists

could work together and
make it sound like music.

After the show we said,
"Hey, man, maybe we

"should do a few gigs."

When you play with
Stanley Clarke

and you play with Victor Wooten,

you really have to
make sure everything

you play is like
yourself, make sure people

can tell which one is you.

So, I found myself
really looking into

myself to see what's really me.

What can I play that really
puts my personality out there?

I think both of those
guys probably experienced,

to some extent, the same thing.

So, it was very
nice for us to be on

the stage together, you know,

it kinda represented three
decades of the bass guitar

and it showed people what
the bass guitar was capable.

[bass guitar music]

It was the first
time I really kinda

revisited the album "Tutu"
in 20 some odd years.

And I did think it would
be interesting for me,

particularly since
I wasn't in a band

when I wrote that
music for Miles.

You know, it's not just "Tutu",

but for "Tutu" and
"Siesta" and "Amandla",

the three albums that I wrote
music and produced for Miles.

I wasn't in his band
so I really only

got to play some of
those songs one time,

in the studio when
we recorded it

and that was the last time.

So, I never got the pleasure
of exploring those songs

and seeing what else
you can find in them

on a night to night
basis, on a tour.

So, I said, "What can
I do so that it will

"be okay with Miles' mentality?"

And I decided to get
all young musicians

who could bring a new
energy to this music

and maybe we could use
the notes of "Tutu"

maybe to create something
new and something for today.

That was my hope.

[uptempo Jazz music]

- So, so--

- [Man] That's all I have?

- [Marcus] Yeah.

- Like, I'm not playing
with the sequence,

like, that's just the intro
and then [imitates drums].

- [Marcus] Yeah.

- [imitates bass
guitar] That's when

it jumps into [mumbling].

- [Marcus] [laughs] Even
when we recorded it, man...

[trumpet and bass guitar music]

- Yeah, yep.

- [voice drowned out by music]

- Is that right?

[trumpet music]

- Oh.

[audience clapping and
uptempo Jazz music]

Jean René Palacio who's
the Artistic Director

on the Monaco Jazz Festival,
he called and said,

"Look, we have the
Philharmonic Orchestra

"of Monte Carlo
available, would you

"like to collaborate with them?"

I was like, "Sure."

And I had done a
lot of work with

orchestras in writing
music for films,

but I had never written for
an orchestra for my own music.

So, I said to myself, "Well,
what pieces should I choose?"

And then I just
went back in my mind

and remembered when I
was recording different

pieces when I would
say to myself,

"I'm going to try and
make it sound orchestral."

And said, "Well, now
I have the opportunity

"to have an actual
orchestra, so let me

"just choose the
songs that I've always

"imagined an orchestra
in my head anyway."

So, there was some songs
that I'd written for Miles,

some songs from my own
albums, that's what made

up the song selection for
"A Night in Monte Carlo."

[uptempo Jazz music]

For the last couple of
years I've been doing a

tribute to "Tutu" and
then somebody said to me,

"You know, next
year in 2011 it's

"20 years since
Miles has passed."

And it was a huge surprise,
it struck me, you know,

because if you had
asked me I would never

have thought that
it was 20 years.

I would've thought
maybe five or six

and I tried to figure out why.

And I think it's because
Miles' music is everywhere,

but more importantly
his spirit is so strong

and it's so alive
that it doesn't

feel like it's been that long.

I called Herbie and I said,

"Man, do you know that it's 20

"years since Miles passed?"

And he said, "Wow, really?"

And I said, "I would like to do

"a tribute, not a long
tour, just maybe nine

"or ten concerts and
would you be interested?"

And he said, "Yes, I would."

And I called Wayne and
he said the same thing.

But it's one thing to decide
to do a tribute to Miles,

it's another thing
to figure out which

tunes to play and then
how to play the tunes.

So, the first day of rehearsal
we didn't play a note.

We just sat around
and we just talked.

We just talked about
Miles, we just talked

about what he meant
to us, told stories.

And I said, "This is beautiful."

And Herbie said, "Maybe
the concert should be just

"like this, a conversation
about what Miles means to us."

And I think Wayne
was the one who said,

"Maybe it's like a
dream, like if Miles

"were actually
dreaming about his life

"or one of us were dreaming
about Miles' life."

- [Herbie] Both Marcus and
I kinda joined in with this.

Maybe we could play
fragments of Miles' songs

and go from one to
another and not have real

solos like they did
on the old records.

Just one long solo
after another long solo.

And how 'bout if we
went from this part of

one tune to this part of
another tune at this point?

This would be kinda cool.

Or how 'bout if we played
this song in a slow

3-4 instead of a faster
4-4 that people knew?

"Yeah, that's cool
because that's

"a different way
of treating it."

So, we just start
throwing in a lot of

different ideas and then
we start to rehearse it.

[uptempo Jazz music]

- [Marcus] "Renaissance",
for this album I began

to feel like it was time
to do something different.

I changed a few things,
I changed a lot of

the musicians that
I was working with,

I really tried to write music
from a different mentality,

I recorded the
music in a much more

different way than I was before.

Like, I used to just
live in the studio for

three months to make an album.

You know, and just
trying this, trying that,

with a lot of synthesizers
and things like that.

I really enjoyed that,

but for this album it
was much more organic

where I just was with a band
and we just kept playing

until it started to feel
right and then we recorded it.

[mid-tempo Jazz music]

- [Marcus] [imitating
the melody]

Okay, okay, let me
take that after awhile.

I'm gonna ask you to let me take

it by myself and
the drums, okay?

If I had to pick a song
of the "Renaissance" album

it would be the song "Goree."

About three years ago
we visited Senegal.

We did a concert of
the arts in Senegal,

it was my first time there.

The day before the
concert we visited the

Island of Goree and we all knew

the story, so we were prepared,

but I wasn't prepared
for the depth of the

emotion standing
there in that place.

And we took a tour of the
slave house and we heard

the stories of how they
kept the slaves there

for three months to
make sure that they

were healthy enough to
send them into slavery.

And the gentlemen who
was our tour guide

was telling us
Africa's population is

probably diminished
by 25 to 30%.

I decided while I was
there that I would

like to write something
about how we felt.

And initially the
song was about anger

and sadness and frustration
over this situation.

But as I was writing
the song I began

to realize it was also,
as horrible as it was,

it was a beginning of my
people, the African-Americans.

And so, you know,

as horrible as it was I'm really
proud of the ability of the

African-Americans to
take that horrible

beginning and change it
into positive things.

With "Goree" this was
what was on my mind,

the initial anger and
pain and resentment,

but also it's a celebration
of the ability to transcend.

["Goree" by Marcus Miller]

- [Voiceover] I have a dream,

my four little children
will one day live

in a nation where
they will not be

judged by the color
of their skin,

but by the content
of their character.

I have a dream today.

[cheering and applause]

- As a bass player I can't play

a whole concert of bass solos.

A bass is very interesting when

it's accompanying, when
it's playing rhythm.

So, I want to get my
other guys involved

so that I can feature
playing support bass.

I got young guys
in the band now.

I don't try to be like
Miles, nobody's Miles,

but with the young
musicians I really

appreciate it when
they have an open mind.

Miles never spoke that much,
he'd say a couple of things,

but I had to learn
by watching him.

I learned how he
dealt with criticism,

I learned how he
dealt with creativity,

how he wasn't afraid
of his creativity,

he wasn't afraid of his ideas.

I'm hoping that my guys,
just from watching me,

will learn things, just from
seeing how I deal with my life.

I go from day to day and
that's a big responsibility.

[uptempo Jazz music]

People ask me, "What kind
of music do you play?"

And I say, "We play
Funk on the bottom

"and Jazz on the top."

The music I play is
basically Soul music,

R&B and it's got a
lot of Pop elements,

but the difference is that we
play it with a Jazz spirit.

If we receive something
from the audience

that's a little
different energy-wise,

the music will change,
I play something else.

The thing about Jazz
that I always loved was

Jazz always has a great
connection to Pop music.

The Jazz music that I
always loved was when

Sonny Rollins would play
an old Broadway song

or Miles Davis or Keith
Jarrett would take a

song that everybody knew
and change it around.

Jazz was always very closely
related to Pop music.

The Bee-Bop guys, Charlie
Parker and Dizzy Gillespie,

most of their
songs were based on

old Show Tunes, you
know, that everyone knew.

And basically what Jazz
musicians were saying was,

"We can take this music
that everyone knows

"and we can show you
the possibilities.

"We can show you how far
that music can be developed."

And I always
thought that was the

most fascinating
thing about Jazz.

["Come Together" by The Beatles]

- ♪ Come together

♪ Right now

♪ Yeah

- [Voiceover] ♪ Over me

- ♪ Right now

- [Voiceover] ♪ Come together

- ♪ Right now

- [Voiceover] ♪ Over me

- ♪ Over me

♪ Over me

♪ Yeah-yeah, over me

[cheering and applause]

- [Marcus] [speaking French]

[cheering and applause]