Marcus Miller Band Set To Debut at Newport

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Bassist Marcus Miller will make his "Newport" debut at this year's JVC Jazz Festival. Miller's band is slated to peform on the Saturday, August 11 program--rocking that day's musical menu with wild and funky, soulful sounds, reminiscent of Miles Davis's last ensemble. The legendary Miles featured Miller in a central role not only as his bassist but as that of his primary collaborator when Miles made his wildly heralded comeback in Boston, in 1981. It was Miller whose rock solid, contemporary bass lines proved to be the foundation under which Miles laid his delicate, often tentative sounds. It was also Miller who composed and produced Miles' last classic signature tune . . . "Tutu" and it's likely he will perform that title in honor of the preeminent trumpeter at Newport.

Style, soul and intense professionalism have set musical Renaissance man Marcus Miller at the top of his game for well over two decades now. The acclaimed bassist, composer, producer, band leader and multi-instrumentalist was born in 1959 and raised in a musical family that included his father (a church organist and choir director) and jazz pianist Wynton Kelly. Miller's touch has graced well over 400 albums, a short list of which includes Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Grover Washington Jr., Donald Fagen, Bill Withers, Chaka Khan, Me'shell NdegéOcello and LL Cool J.

The highly chameleonic and influential Miller has played an integral role in the careers of no less than Miles Davis, Luther Vandross (with whom he won a Grammy for their composition "Power of Love"), David Sanborn and many other legendary artists. Around the world, he has astounded music lovers with his masterful, earthy and ever passionate approach to music making.

Miller's solo recordings include 1993's The Sun Don't Lie and 1995's Tales, both of which found him brilliantly connecting the dots of Black music's evolution. Following a fan-demanded Live and More in 1997, Miller released M2 ("M-Squared") and became the only solo bassist ever to win the Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. His 2005 release Silver Rain found Marcus joined again by long time friends and collaborators Eric Clapton and Lalah Hathaway.

Film and TV scoring is another artistic muscle Miller has been flexing over the years. He has composed scores for comedies House Party and Boomerang, the dance hit "Da Butt" for Spike Lee's School Daze, the score for the childrens' animated feature The Trumpet of the Swan and the music for Chris Rock's TV hit Everybody Hates Chris. Whatever Marcus is doing, keeping it real is the criteria that steers all of his music. "I like to keep things balanced, combining R&B, jazz, funk and movie stuff to help reflect what's happening in our world. I just try to keep challenging myself to continue to grow and get better."

The full festival program is as follows: The popular Friday night program [August 10] at the International Tennis Hall of Fame's Newport Casino will feature Newport '57: The Legacy of Ella, Billie and Basie with the internationally renown jazz singer Dianne Reeves and her band and The Count Basie Orchestra with Special Guest Nnenna Freelon. That program will begin at 8:00 pm; the Casino is the location of the very first Newport Jazz Festival where the champagne and martinis are again sure to flow.

The festival moves seaside to gorgeous Fort Adams State Park for two full days [11:30 am - 7:00 pm] and this year's festival features something for everyone--a glorious mix of straight ahead, traditional and contemporary jazz, rhythm & blues, blues, funk, Latin jazz and Brazilian jazz.

On Saturday, August 11, the program on the JVC Jazz Stage will feature: Branford Marsalis Quartet, Marcus Miller Band, Dave Brubeck Quartet, Zap Mama, Bruce Hornsby with Jack DeJohnette & Christian McBride and Joshua Redman Trio. The Pavilion Stage is where jazz fans will hear Chico Hamilton & Euphoria, The Brubeck Brothers Quartet, Monk Legacy Septet: A 90th Birthday Celebration with Ben Riley, Don Sickler, Bruce Williams, Wayne Escoffery, Jay Brandford, Freddie Bryant & Kiyoshi Kitagawa, Gunther Schuller conducts the Mingus Orchestra, and Kenny Werner Quintet with Chris Potter, Randy Brecker, Scott Colley & Antonio Sanchez. The smaller, but critic-pleasing Waterside Stage will have several treats: Roswell Rudd Quartet with Lafayette Harris, Brad Jones & Sunny Kim, pianist Abdullah Ibrahim performing solo and Anat Cohen Quartet.

Sunday's program on August 12 will add a good deal of blues and rhythm & blues to the day's musical plate. The JVC Jazz Stage will be highlighted by B.B. King, Etta James & The Roots Band, Al Green, Paquito D'Rivera's Panamericana Ensemble, Newport '57 Revisited: The Legacy of Dizzy Gillespie�, Dizzy Gillespie� All-Star Big Band featuring Slide Hampton, Roberta Gambarini, James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Roy Hargrove, Claudio Roditi, Antonio Hart, Mark Gross, Frank Basile, Frank Greene, Greg Gisbert, Steve Davis, Jason Jackson, Jay Ashby, Doug Purviance, Roy Assaf, John Lee & Dennis Mackrel.

If that doesn't knock everyone's socks off, there is also Sunday's Pavilion Stage with Luciana Souza - The New Bossa Nova, Ron Carter, Russell Malone & Mulgrew Miller, Jon Faddis' Teranga and The Music Of Rahsaan Roland Kirk featuring Steve Turre with Vincent Herring, Billy Harper, Dion Parson and others.

Also on Sunday, August 12, the Waterside Stage will showcase Ben Allison Quartet with Jeff Ballard, Steve Cardenas & Ron Horton, Portrait of Bill Evans featuring Eliane Elias, Marc Johnson & Billy Hart, Brazilian Nights: The Music of Getz & Jobim featuring Harry Allen with Trio da Paz: Romero Lubambo, Nilson Matta & Duduka da Fonseca and Donald Harrison Quintet featuring Christian Scott with Esperanza Spalding, John Lampkin & Victor Gould.

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