Marcus MILLER

Silver Rain

(2005)

1. Intro Duotion 0'30
(Marcus Miller)
THRILLER MILLER MUSIC, ASCAP
Audio Clip From "Boomerang"
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
This is basically the front door of this aibum. It kinda says, "Hey y'all, it's me again!" Do you remember Eartha Kitt in "Boomerang" saying "Maaaahcus, dahling"?
2. Bruce Lee 5'23
(Marcus Miller)
THRILLER MILLER MUSIC, ASCAP
My Engineer and Co-producer, Dave Keeps bringing martial arts videos to the studio to play in the background while we work on music. When "Enter The Dragon" came on, it reminded me how incredible Bruce Lee was. He had an inspiring combination of strength and agility - and he was also a master improvtser !
3. La Villette 5'54
(Marcus Miller)
THRILLER MILLER MUSIC, QUEEN OF THE PLANET Publishing, ASCAP
I spent a good amount of time in a hotel room in Paris, working on this album. We were across the street from a music center called La Villette. I'd leave the window open and vibe off of the sounds of the city. Paris is a city that most people feel is very romantic. But if you stay there long enough you starttosee the "hood" in full effect too ! From my window, I could hear a sweet accordion playing an old French love song, or two Moroccan cats arguing with each other getting ready to fight - it simply depended on which way the wind was blowing ...
4. Behind The Smile 6'25
(Marcus Miller)
THRILLER MILLER MUSIC, ASCAP
This song features Gregoire Marct, a great harmonica player who's played with Me'shell Ndegeocelio and Cassandra Wilson. The tune has lightness and darkness at the same time. Like a woman who's smiling on the outside but lonely on the inside. If she hears this song, she'll feel better :-)
5. Frankenstein 6'33
(Edgar Winter)
EMI LONGITUDE MUSIC, BMI
If you remember the original version of this, you'll smile when you hear it. Even if you never heard it before it's one of those tunes that sounds instantly familiar ! It was originally an Edgar Winter rock anthem from the early seventies. We funked / jazzed it up. Patches and Kirk really tear this one up, for all you musicians out there the section before the drum break has a nice pentatonic scale that you can practice '-)
6. Moonlight Sonata 7'38
(Ludwig Van Beethoven)
Arranged by Marcus Miller
THRILLER MILLER MUSIC, ASCAP
I heard my fourteen years old son, Jon, practicing this piano piece one day - and I was a little kid listening to my dad assical hymns on the piano I started adding my own parts in my head: drums, guitar, whatever ... It me out to find myself reacting to my son's music the same way I used to react to my dad's. That's when I decided that I wanted to present that sound I was hearing in my head to everyone
7. Boogie On Reggae Woman 5'03
(Stevie Wonder)
BLACK BULL MUSIC, Inc.
JOBETTE MUSIC Co., Inc
Adm. by EMI MUSIC Publishing, ASCAP
This song, by Stevie Wonder, has one of the sickest bass lines I ever heard. On the original, Steve played it himself on a sythesizer. It's tricky to play on a keyboard - it's even trickier to play on bass guitar ! I played the bass line, then I overdubbed Stevie's melody with the bass too.
Mocean Worker added some nice DJ efx in the break
8. Paris (Interlude) 1'15
(Marcus Miller)
THRILLER MILLER MUSIC, ASCAP
9. Silver Rain 6'01
(Marcus Miller, Eric Clapton, KEM, Joey Kibbie, Bill Withers)
THRILLER MILLER MUSIC, ASCAP / E.C. MUSIC LIMITED / PRS / UNICHAPPELL MUSIC, Inc. / KEMUNITY MUSIC / CREMA MUSIC; BMI
This tune has a reggae shuffle feel that's hards for Americans (Yankees !) to play. The feeling is a little different from a regular blues shuffle. I was talking to my sound engineer Dennis Thompson who was Bob Marley's engineer for years (in the studio and on the road). After Dennis finished telling me about all the amazing times he and Bob had, I was inspired to do this tune. This a song that I started working on with Eric Clapton a few years back. It's about how love can wash away pain and fear. I remember one story about 100,000 people at a concert in Italy all lighting candles when Bob sang 'No Woman No Cry'. He said the heat that it generated was unbelievable. There, were buildings along the edges of the huge field and people were in the windows with candles as well. Incredible image.
10. Make Up My Mind 3'42
(Marcus Miller)
THRILLER MILLER MUSIC, ASCAP
This song is about those little choices that you make that end up profoundly affecting your life: Going this way or that way, taking this flight or that flight calling her tonite or not calling her.
11. Girls And Boys 5'36
(Prince)
CONTROVERSY MUSIC Adm. by UNIVERSAL MUSIC Corp. / WB MUSIC Corp., a Division Of WARNER BROS. Inc., ASCAP
I love making music with distinctive voices. Macy Gray is voice has so much character in it. As soon as she comes in, you know it's her ! I was originally attracted to this Prince song because of the dope baritone sax part that Prince had in it. I switched that part to my bass clarinet which has a similar range.
12. Sophisticated Lady 5'24
(Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Mitchell Parish)
FAMOUS MUSIC Corp. / EMI MILLS MUSIC Inc., ASCAP
People ask me why I like Stevie tunes so much. I tell them that I think Stevie's songs are classics, like Duke Ellington's Well, on this album, I wanted to do an actual Duke tune. Sophisticated Lady is a true standard that I've been doing for a few years now. I play it on bass clarinet, which gives the tune a more longing feeling.
13. Power Of Soul 6'53
(Jimi Hendrix)
EXPERIENCE HENDRIX LLC, ASCAP
This song has been known by the title "Power To Love" also. I like checking out Hendrix tunes because he wrote tunes on his guitar and bass. All of the things he writes piay very naturally on my bass guitar - as opposed to standard jazz tunes which are usually written on a piano or a horn. Hendrix tunes also have that energy that you cani get anywhere else. We've been playing this tune live for a while now and when we get it right, it's hot !
14. Outro Duction 0'53
(Marcus Miller)
THRILLER MILLER MUSIC, ASCAP
This is the backdoor !

Bonus Tracks


15. The Lord's Prayer 5'10
(Public Domain)
THRILLER MILLER MUSIC, ASCAP
This is for my mom who's been gone for a couple of years now. She would get such a serene look on her face when I played a hymn ...

Total Time: 72:20

  • Marcus Miller plays a 1977 Fender Jazz Bass, a Fender Marcus Miller Signature 5 String Bass, a Fodera Fretless 5 String Bass and a Marco Acoustic Bass Guitar.
    His Strings are DR Marcus Miller Fat Beams.
    He also plays a Buffer extended range Bass Clarinet and a Selmer Mark VI Soprano Saxophone.

    Produced by Marcus Miller for PORK PIE PRODUCTIONS
    Co-produced by David Isaac
    Mixed by Takamasa Honda (1, 8, 12, 14)
    Mixed by David Isaac (2, 4, 6, 8-10, 12)
    Mixed by Ray Bardani (3, 5)
    Mixed by Dennis Thompson (9, 10, 15)
    Mixed by Goh Hotoda (13)
    Mastered by Louie TeranforMarcussen Mastering, Hollywood. CA All music arranged by Marcus Miller Production Coordination by Bibi Green
    Recorded by Marcus Miller, David Isaac and Dennis Thompson
    Additional Recording by Takamasa Honda, Adam Dorn, Craig J, The Dropper and Mark Kibble
    Assistant Engineers - Takamasa Honda, Bryan Russell, Kaon Kinoshita, Dave Huston and Zach McNees

    Technical Supervisor - Takamasa Honda
    Executive Producers - Marcus Miller, Harold Goode and Harry Martin
    3 DEUCES Coordination - Gretchen O'Neal
    Artist Management - Bibi Green
    Liner Notes by Reuben Jackson, Poet, Poetry Instructor, Music Critic and Archivist with the     SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTIOM's Duke Ellington Collection. His first book of Poems, "fingering the keys", won the 1992 COLAMBIA BOOK AWARD.
    Marcus Miller Photos by Kumiko Higo
    Art Direction, Design and Additional Photography by Jack Frisch

    Recorded at HANNIBAL STUDIOS, Santa Monica, CA,
    CAMEL ISLAND STUDIOS, Los Angeles, CA,
    HIT FACTORY and The DOMMITORY, New York, NY,
    ABSOLUTE BEATS, Dallas, TX,
    VERTICAL SOUND STUDIO, Nashville, TN
    Recorded and Edited in     LOGIC PRO by Marcus Miller

    Mixed at HANNIBAL STUDIOS, Santa Monica, CA and HIT FACTORY, New York, NY

    This album was Recorded and Edited on a MACINTOSH G4 using LOGIC PRO.

    Like celebrated author Langston Hughes, whose poem "Silver Rain" inspired this collection's title, bassist, composer, arranger and bandleader Marcus Miiler continues to fuse and explore the sea of possibilities in various genres. But Miller's career has also led him to the Zen-like realization that the secret to a successful artistic life is "one thing".
    In Miller's case the "one thing11 present throughout "Rain" is the leader's compositional versatility, and his commitment to the groove. Sometimes the groove is found in infectious cover versions of classics from Stevie Wonder, Edgar Winter and Jimi Hendrix, or in Milter's moody, seductive arrangement of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata".
    Yet what is most important (and enjoyable) about "Rain" is the level of sincerity in each performance. This isn't some glib, cynically assembled collection of funk-drenched originals and evergreens. It is, as we used to say in the 70's, "the real deal".
    After the funky "Intro Duction", "Silver Rain" continues with "Bruce Lee", a Miller original whose aural delights capture the composer's awe at the late martial arts master's "inspiring combination of strength and agility", words which also aptly describe the leader's basswork. Terse ensemble riffs careen across the track like Lee (whom Miller calls a "master tmproviser") trading blows with a soon to be vanquished opponent. But if (like yours truly) you also revel in Miller's gift for crafting romantic but maudlin-free vehicles, "La Villette", which, Miller explains, combines the romantic and earthy sides of Paris, and which features Lalah Hathaways gorgeous vocals, will haunt you like a kiss. This same compelling degree of musicality is also present in Miller originals like "Make Up My Mind" and "Behind The Smile". And yet Miller's decision to tackle a few cover versions on "Rain" is no less daring than one of his "no holds barred" bass solos. Still, his readings of Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady" (performed on bass clarinet !) and Stevie Wonder's "Boogie On Reggae Woman" succeed because Miller achieves, like a master glassblower, the delicate balance between his ensemble's interpretive gifts, and the beauty inherent in the compositions. Neither reading sinks into the impassive playing offered by too many groups, or collapses under the weight of "soloitis". Jimi Hendrix's "Power Of Soul" would undoubtedly please its notoriously self-effacing composer with its perfect marriage of celebration and restraint, while Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein" serves as a sumptuous launching pad for memorable contributions by trumpeter Patches Stewart and saxophonist Kirk Whalum. I think it's also fair to assume that Ludwig Van Beethoven would love Miller's arrangement of his well-known "Moonlight Sonata". Miller fuses the timeless theme with a b!ues-tinged groove as slow and unforgettable as the moon crossing the evening sky. Forget ail those tired attempts at "modernizing the classics", and, as a great Zen master once said, "pay attention !"
    When poet Ezra Pound exhorted fellow bards to "make it new" - trust me - he had material like "Moonlight" (and "Rain" in general) in mind. But "Silver Rain" also succeeds because it embodies trumpeter Miles Davisl cryptic yet informative advice to musicians: "Don't play what you know, play what you don't know". And Marcus Miller has a Ph.D. in that !

    - Reuben Jackson
    Poet, Archivist
    SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION's Duke Ellington Collection

    www.disquesdreyfus.com

    If you'd like to contact Marcus Miller or see tour information visit marcusmiller.com

    ©2005 3 DEUCES RECORDS, Inc.