Interview: Jazz Bassist Marcus Miller Maps His Musical History

His bass’ fretless neck stretches out like an antennae, the notes pulsing like a funky sonar, as Marcus Miller navigates an uncharted musical route. The adventurous bassist has made history on that journey, which ranges from the stage of Saturday Night Live, to recording sessions with Miles Davis and Aretha Franklin, and more. Now he’s plotting a new transcontinental course, one that will bring him to the source of his people's rhythms.

“As the spokesperson for UNESCO’s Slave Roots Project, I’ve followed the slave route – West Africa, South America, the Caribbean and up into the US, speaking at events and then recruiting musicians to work on my next album,” Miller tells the Beijinger, ahead of his October 21 performance at Yugong Yishan, about the intersection between his activism and music. “I’ve got guitarists from Guinea, and some great Brazilian percussionists out of Rio, and a few Caribbean singers who did some chanting for me. There’s been a lot of discovery on this album.”

Below, Miller tells us about the Slave Roots Project, his legendary collaborations with the likes of Franklin and Luther Vandross, his globe trotting foray into world music, and more.

How did you get involved with UNESCO?
On my last album (2012’s Renaissance) there’s a song called “Goree (Go-ray),” that’s named after an island I visited off the coast of Senegal. They used to stockpile captive Africans on Goree. It’s a museum now, but it used to be a building where they kept them chained, did inventory, and checked to make sure everyone was healthy enough for the trip across the Atlantic. I was talking about how that inspired the song during a show in Paris. The director of UNESCO was in the audience, she was moved by it, and came backstage to talk about working together.

What other musicians did you recruit while traveling the slave route?
One of my favorites is Etienne Charles, a trumpet player from Trinidad. We had a mutual friend, a famous New York percussionist named Ralph MacDonald, who passed away recently. Ralph was the one who first started recommending me to different producers in New York, and helped me get work everyday as a studio musician. So, just yesterday, Etienne and I recorded a Calypso tribute for Ralph.

Your father’s family is also from Trinidad, and he was an organist at your church. How did he influence your playing early on?
We’d get together with my Dad’s family and I’d hear the music, taste the food, hear their accent, even though I don’t have one (laughs). But Dad was more into classical music. I grew up hearing Beethoven, and I started playing on the clarinet. But as I got older, I wanted to play funk, and that didn’t involve the clarinet much. So I started playing the bass, and fell in love.

What made you fall for it?
I was a big fan of the Jackson 5. I loved what I thought was Jermaine’s bass playing, although I didn’t realize it was actually the famous Motown bassist James Jamerson on most of those records. Back then I thought “I’m 12, Jermaine’s 14, I’ve got a lot practicing to do to play like him.” When I eventually met Jermaine I said: “I’m playing bass because of you.” He got a big kick out of that.

You must’ve met a lot of your other heroes while playing with the Saturday Night Live band.
I was there when Eddie Murphy started. We were both 18 or 19 years old then. I knew right away that he was going to be really successful. During the commercial breaks he’d run up and say “C’mon, let’s play, let’s play!” and jam with us. He didn’t play that well, but he liked to play (laughs).

How did that gig lead to writing the intro for Aretha Franklin’s “I Wanna Make It Up To You”?
I was on SNL on Saturdays, and in studios the rest of the week, thanks to Ralph’s recommendation. I met all sorts of people, like Luther Vandross. He had an opportunity to produce Aretha, and he told me: “Write me some music for her.” So we wrote “Jump to It,” and “I Wanna Make It Up To You.” That was her reentrance into the pop world. It was really exciting to give back, since we’d both gotten so much from listening to Aretha over the years.

She’s infamous for being a diva. What was she like with you?
People like that have to be a diva a little bit, and be protective of themselves. So she’d ask us to turn off the AC, because it dries out people’s throats. She was a bit demanding, but I expected that of her. I just tried to be as professional as she was. Luther was also known for his professionalism. He was very knowledgeable. Plenty of singers don’t don’t know a lot about music, or even what key they’re singing in. But Luther wasn’t like that. He could tell you exactly what he wanted. I also admired his confidence. We’d be in the studio doing a track, and he’d say: “Marcus, this is going to be a smash.” He was so positive, and most of the time he was right.

After helping Aretha make a comeback, you did the same for Miles Davis, writing all the songs on his 1986 album Tutu. What do you remember about those days?
I could ask Miles about the jazz musicians of the '40s and he knew them all personally. Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, these guys were only famous names to me, but Miles knew the clothes they wore, and the food that they liked. It was like having a living history book.

What was it like to perform with him?
During one gig in Paris the electricity went out, and Miles didn’t notice at first. So he was just there playing by himself for 5,000 people, with no power and no microphone. The people were so respectful, completely quiet, and you could hear his trumpet ringing out in the hall. That was beautiful.

Miles was just so magical. He somehow managed to find the most beautiful notes. He didn’t play all the notes, a lot of jazz musicians play a lot of notes, but Miles just played the right ones. And that’s a talent.

Is that something you strive for yourself, to not be too showy?
I try, but every once in awhile, man, I gotta let it go. Every once in awhile I’ll say “Sorry Miles, but I gotta riff right here.” I let it go, then I try to get back to it (laughs).

I interviewed another one of your influences a few months ago, Larry Graham of Sly and the Family Stone. How does your technique vary from his?
He was one of my heroes when I was growing up, and I learned all his songs. Two years ago I was in Japan playing, and I had Larry Graham as my special guest. It was crazy man. It felt like I was a teenager back in my room, playing along with Larry Graham records, except that he was really there. And his technique of slapping the bass with his thumb, and plucking it with his fingers, was very unique. I was very much influenced by it. I started to give it my own slant eventually, and take it into more jazz situations. And when we jammed together he seemed to appreciate what I was doing, he seemed very proud. He feels like my big brother.

Did Jaco Pastorius influence on you as well?
I learned a lot from him too. His style was very different from Larry Graham’s “slapping and popping” approach. Jaco played with his fingers, and his bass didn’t have any metal frets on it, so it had a very different sound. I learned all of his music that I could. And I finally got a chance to meet him in the '80s and become friends. He died early, but I was fortunate enough to spend time with him.

Some critics say you imitated Pastorius’ style in the beginning. Was that frustrating at the time?
First of all, somebody wrote that on Wikipedia, but that’s not the rap I was getting. At 17, 18 years old you’re supposed to sound like your idols, then evolve out of that. So people were more like “Wow, look at this kid, he can play like Jaco, he can play like Larry Graham.” But by the time I was 21, 22, I was coming into my own, and that’s a young age to be finding yourself. By the time I got with Miles and Aretha, when you heard me on a record, you’d be pretty sure it was me. I was pretty clear in my style at that time.

The comparisons may have started because you and Jaco were both known for playing the fretless bass. But on your latest records, you’ve played a fretted bass as well. How do you decide which to use when you’re working on a song?
When I was coming up, and was so influenced by Jaco, I definitely played a lot fretless. There’s no metal to rattle the strings, so it sounds more like a cello, unlike a fretted bass, which has more of a twang. Now I go back and forth, depending on the tone I want. Sometimes you want lots of vibrato and a beautiful tone, then sometimes you want to get real funky. So depending on what you’re looking for, that’s the bass you use.

Aside from switching up instruments, what techniques or training do you use to keep yourself sharp?
I’ve maintained the same routine, which involves just practicing all the time. When I was young my Mom would encourage me to go outside like a normal kid, because all I’d do is stay at home and play my bass. That hasn’t changed, but now I’m reaching out to work with musicians from different parts of the world, especially with this new album. It’s all about switching up my environment, and putting myself in new situations, so that I continue to grow.

What else have you learned from this foray into world music?
So many things. I did a gig in Morocco about four months ago, and discovered some Moroccan musicians who play an instrument that’s very similar to the bass guitar. And their playing is similar to what Larry Graham did in the '60s with the “slapping and popping” approach, but they had been doing it since the 17th century. So it was nice to see that the story is an old story, that continues and gets reinvented, and yet goes back very far.

After having mentors like Larry Graham and Aretha Franklin, how does it feel to be considered a veteran like them?
It feels beautiful man. It feels like life, like I’m passing the influences down the line, so that this beautiful tradition of music keeps going. It was a little weird at first, when I realized some of these guys are looking at me the way I looked at my heroes. The guys in my band are young, some of them only in their early 20’s. So I just I try to be a good example, show them that I’m not drinking, I’m not smoking, I’m just really trying to stay serious about music.

Is that something you always avoided?
Yeah. When I was 18 I came up at SNL, and John Belushi had just died. The generation before me were paying the price for their lifestyles. And they all pleaded with me: “Please don’t do what we did, because it’s not worth it.” I was never really too much into it anyway, so I thought to myself: “I’m not going to go that way. I’m going to focus on the music.”

Marcus Miller will perform at Yugong Yishan on October 21 9.30pm. For more information, visit our event listing.

More stories by this author here.

Email: danielkippwhittaker@thebeijinger.com

Photo: en.wikipedia.org