marcus miller's first two-suddenly and s/t

[narud]

so last week im in amoeba and find marcus millers first two albums on vinyl. these are the out of print vocal r&b albums. i hadnt listened to them until today. so for ive only listened to suddenly and oy vey! lets just say marcus made the right decision in switching to instrumental music and ending his singing career

[heath_the_great]

suddenly is the only marcus album ive bought, mind you it was on warner brothers jazz classic reissue digipack cds ..just like my copy of word of mouth and invitation....but after listening to that i didnt see the hype of "marcus miller" i thought meshell ndegeochellos peace beyond passion was about 500% times better than that album....(i bought them at the same time)

[Mark Latimour]

Originally Posted by heath_the_great

suddenly is the only marcus album ive bought, mind you it was on warner brothers jazz classic reissue digipack cds ..just like my copy of word of mouth and invitation....but after listening to that i didnt see the hype of "marcus miller" i thought meshell ndegeochellos peace beyond passion was about 500% times better than that album....(i bought them at the same time)

I suggest if you want to hear Marcus with his game face on, get the Ozell Tapes...awesome stuff!

[heath_the_great]

Originally Posted by Mark Latimour

I suggest if you want to hear Marcus with his game face on, get the Ozell Tapes...awesome stuff!

yeah, thats what my guitarist sugegsted to me, that i find his live stuff, where he hasnt got access to samplers and synths....im still interested in finding more of his stuff, just that i thought 'suddenly' wasnt a great way to start on his music, ive heard 2 songs that he's done with meshell and ive loved them...but im also obsessed with meshell's music, she's a pretty damn underrated bassist to....i saw a vid of her the other day, online, where she's playing a fender jazz, i dunno if she still uses fender ive seen her with cellinder and modulus lately, and she was like half the size of the jazz

[narud]

Originally Posted by heath_the_great

yeah, thats what my guitarist sugegsted to me, that i find his live stuff, where he hasnt got access to samplers and synths....im still interested in finding more of his stuff, just that i thought 'suddenly' wasnt a great way to start on his music, ive heard 2 songs that he's done with meshell and ive loved them...but im also obsessed with meshell's music, she's a pretty damn underrated bassist to....i saw a vid of her the other day, online, where she's playing a fender jazz, i dunno if she still uses fender ive seen her with cellinder and modulus lately, and she was like half the size of the jazz

avoid the sun dont lie and tales. go straight to live and more and as previously mentioned the ozell tapes. marcus is a bad man, but his solo work isnt always the best place to get it. some of my favorite marcus is on

miles davis
-the man with the horn
-we want miles

wayne shorter
-high life

[stretchcat]

One of my favorite recordings with Marcus Miller on bass is Kenwood Dennard's "Just Advance".

[Steve Clark]

Originally Posted by narud

miles davis
-we want miles

wayne shorter
-high life

+1 for We Want Miles (Stern smokes as well)

I will have to check out High Life.

[DWBass]

Originally Posted by narud

Avoid The Sun Don't Lie and Tales.

I disagree! These are excellent cd's although they are not 'live'. They do, however, showcase his many talents in areas other than bass. He plays Bass Clarinet, Keyboards and Guitar in addition to his programming and bass playing. Of course the live stuff is way better but I can't stand Hiram Bullock's sound! That wierd detuned chorus sound is so annoying!!

[cgworkman]

It was the 80's - Wht do you expect??

[narud]

Originally Posted by cgworkman

It was the 80's - Wht do you expect??

good music

[JimK]

Originally Posted by Joshua

I liked The Sun Don't Lie, but Tales didn't work for me. Live and More is smokin', and I need to check out The Ozell Tapes and High Life (I'm a huge WS fan)...

I'm a huge Shorter fan that doesn't dig High Life...it is very slick & in a Contemporary Jazz(i.e. 'Smooth') vibe. Go for it if that stuff floats your boat.
Personally, I would opt for the Sanborn albums with Marcus vis a vis High Life.

Marcus on The Breckers' Straphanging is cool...also his work with Luther Vandross.

And I agree with We Want Miles as an example of raw-Miles electric chromatic Funk(also Star People).

[narud]

Originally Posted by JimK

I'm a huge Shorter fan that doesn't dig High Life...it is very slick & in a Contemporary Jazz(i.e. 'Smooth') vibe. Go for it if that stuff floats your boat.
Personally, I would opt for the Sanborn albums with Marcus vis a vis High Life.

Marcus on The Breckers' Straphanging is cool...also his work with Luther Vandross.

And I agree with We Want Miles as an example of raw-Miles electric chromatic Funk(also Star People).

the production might come off as smooth, but theres so much going on in the compositions and orchestration that if you played it back to back with some dave koz or spyro gyra i dont think you could lump it it in with that stuff. on the whole, i think except for something like upfront, most of the sanborn stuff that miller did sounds more like smooth jazz.

but hey, its either love/hate with most people ive talked to that have an opinion on high life

[DWBass]

Originally Posted by narud

the production might come off as smooth, but theres so much going on in the compositions and orchestration that if you played it back to back with some dave koz or spyro gyra i dont think you could lump it it in with that stuff. on the whole, i think except for something like upfront, most of the sanborn stuff that miller did sounds more like smooth jazz.

but hey, its either love/hate with most people ive talked to that have an opinion on high life

I'm quite sure High Life was meant to come off as an eclectic, non mainstream cd. I too had a hard time deciphering the cd and pretty much only dig the title cut but it's still a good cd that is well produced. Secondly, you don't get too many opportunities to hear Wayne Shorter play and I'll take this anyday. I will admit that Marcus is of a different breed. Not just a great bassist but a musical visionary that some folks will dig and some will not. For the most part, I dig what he does.

[heath_the_great]

Originally Posted by cgworkman

It was the 80's - Wht do you expect??

the 80's produced many good bands albums
duran duran, chili peppers, steve vai, joe satriani, stu hamm, soundgarden, primus etc etc

[hands5]

Originally Posted by narud

avoid the sun dont lie and tales. go straight to live and more and as previously mentioned the ozell tapes. marcus is a bad man, but his solo work isnt always the best place to get it. some of my favorite marcus is on

miles davis
-the man with the horn
-we want miles

wayne shorter
-high life

IMO the Ozell tapes ain't that great either.I think he did his best stuff with Lonnie Liston Smith and some late 79-80 with Lenny White.

[cgworkman]

Originally Posted by narud

good music

Don't hold your breath!

[dodgy_ian]

M2 M2 M2!!!!

its real good!

dodge

[xolin]

Originally Posted by dodgy_ian

M2 M2 M2!!!!

its real good!

dodge

Heh. M2 is definitely an album I listen to quite often, but I do so more for R&B/Hip-Hop influences. There are some very soulful songs on there, however, in the way of jazz...but Marcus' manner of dubbing 100-fold every song doesnt always allow for a true jazz feel.

I really LOVE Lonnie's Lament on that album...better than COLTRANE's for me! The song Boomerang is a very nice RnB tune, but, again, not an amazing song, musically. um...Power is cool in that solo bass sorta way, and I like his pork-pie hat. Red Baron and 3 Deuces were pretty decent as well.

As for Ozell Tapes, very good...but still, I have yet to hear Marcus in a true intimate, passionate Jazz setting (but, hell, I don't consider a lot of that fusion, no matter if intricately and carefully orchestrated or free, to have been very intimate)

Anyways, I really like Marcus' playing, he's got a real voice in his bass and also with his clarinet. His real voice...well...american idol maybe..:L , heh. Just teasin'.

I'm out.

[cgworkman]

His work on M2 is a perfect blend of what works for both musicians and non-musicians alike. Not to "out-there", but then not to "top 40" either... Everybody will enjoy something on that CD.

[xolin]

Originally Posted by cgworkman

His work on M2 is a perfect blend of what works for both musicians and non-musicians alike. Not to "out-there", but then not to "top 40" either... Everybody will enjoy something on that CD.

Well said, and great makeout music