William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. is a well-known American jazz performer, composer and producer. Winner of the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Album of 2001.
Biography
The future musician was born in June 1959 on the fourteenth in the American city of New York. From an early age, the boy had a special love for music, he listened with pleasure to the music records that were in his home collection. In addition, the boy’s father played the organ in the church, he also became the first music teacher of Marcus.
As his first instrument, Miller Jr. chose a recorder, which he played for several years. He later began to master the clarinet. He played on it in the school ensemble, and also performed in the well-known musical group New-York all city band. After graduating from high school, Miller entered the high school of the arts, where he chose the clarinet as the main instrument. After that, he planned to enter the music conservatory, but doubts about the correct choice of the clarinet made the young musician abandon this venture. Instead of a conservatory, he entered a music college, where there was no need to choose a specialized instrument.
Career
The main instrument with which he still performs, the bass guitar, Miller mastered independently from the age of thirteen. He started making the first recordings of his game when he was in college. Then he met with musicians: Robert Fleck, Luther Vandross, Paul Simon. In 1981, he dropped out of college and clarinet classes and went on a long tour with a group of Miles Davis.
In the late eighties, Miller first showed himself as a composer; he composed the song Tutu for the Davis collective. Later the album of the same name will be compiled and recorded, almost the compositions in which will be attributed to Miller.
From the beginning of the nineties, Miller began producing other musicians. One of the most successful projects was David Sanborn's record, which subsequently received a Grammy. Since 1993, Marcus has tried himself as an independent unit and recorded the first solo album, which was called The Sun don t lie. Two years later, he will record another album and go on a long tour with the accumulated material. Two years of musical travel and hundreds of requests from fans returned Marcus to the studio, where she recorded Live and more.
To date, the musician has fifteen solo records, the last of which was released in 2018. Until 2000, Miller collaborated with David Sonborn, they also have fifteen albums. Some of Miller’s compositions can be heard in Hollywood films, the most famous works: “The Sixth Player”, “Brothers”, “Big White Cheating”.
