Tales is an album by the American musician Marcus Miller, released in 1995.[4][5] He supported it with a North American tour.[6]
| Tales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 1995 | |||
| Genre | Jazz fusion[1] | |||
| Length | 63:08 | |||
| Label | PRA[2] Dreyfus[3] | |||
| Producer | Marcus Miller | |||
| Marcus Miller chronology | ||||
| ||||
The album peaked at No. 7 on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.[7] It was nominated for a Grammy Award, in the "Best Contemporary Jazz Performance" category.[8]
Production
editThe album was produced by Miller.[9] It samples the voices of several Black American musicians.[10] "Eric" is dedicated to the guitarist Eric Gale.[11] Miller wrote or cowrote nine of the album's songs; the title track was written with Allen Toussaint.[12][13]
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [14] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD |  [3] |
The Independent wrote that the album "lashes its constituent parts together with stupendous playing and rigorous adherence to the principle that music is about spinning yarns, not showing off."[4] The Guardian determined that most of Miller's music "occupies a safe centre ground of funk basslines, loose-limbed drumming from Poogie Bell, and layers of beatific keyboard harmonies."[15]
The Rocky Mountain News opined that Meshell Ndegeocello "spellbinds with 'Rush Over', a ballad wrought from spoken word and singing."[11] The Oregonian praised Miller's "knack for welding groove to harmonic structure and balancing upscale polish with urban grit."[16] The Atlanta Journal-Constitution deemed Miller "a fusionaire whose slickness is cued to the marketplace, but he also knows how to round up a band."[17]
AllMusic wrote that some songs "ramble on a bit and one wishes that Marcus Miller would drop the funk now and then for variety's sake, but in general his set holds one's interest."[14]
Track listing
editAll tracks composed by Marcus Miller except where noted.
- "The Blues" – 5:35
- "Tales (Intro)" (Miller, Allen Toussaint) – 0:12
- "Tales" (Miller, Allen Toussaint) – 5:42
- "Eric" – 6:16
- "True Geminis" – 5:36
- "Rush Over" – 4:57
- "Running Through My Dreams (Interlude)" – 1:27
- "Ethiopia" – 5:15
- "Strange Fruit (Intro)" (Abel Meeropol) – 1:46
- "Strange Fruit" (Abel Meeropol) – 2:02
- "Visions" (Stevie Wonder) – 5:37
- "Tales (Reprise)" – 2:34
- "Forevermore (Intro)" – 0:32
- "Forevermore" – 4:59
- "Infatuation" – 5:08
- "Come Together" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 5:30
Personnel
edit- Poogie Bell – Drums
- Dean Brown – Guitar
- Hiram Bullock – Guitar
- Kenny Garrett – Alto Saxophone
- Lalah Hathaway – Vocals
- Jason Miles – Programming
- Marcus Miller – Organ, Synthesizer, Flute, Guitar, Piano, Clarinet (Bass), Bass, Rhythm guitar, Keyboards, Programming, Producer, Engineer, Sampling
- Meshell Ndegeocello – Synthesizer, Vocals
- Q-Tip – Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
- Joshua Redman – Tenor Saxophone
- Michael "Patches" Stewart – Trumpet
- Dave Ward – Programming
- Lenny White – Drums
- Bernard Wright – Organ, Synthesizer, Clavinet, Synthesizer Bass
Production
- Roland Alvarez – engineer
- Ray Bardani – engineer
- Goh Hotoda – engineer
- Bruce Miller – engineer
- Jonathan Miller – engineer
- David Ward II – engineer
References
edit- ^ Seymour, Gene (February 1996). "Finding excitement in jazz fusion". Emerge. 7 (4): 102.
- ^ a b Larkin, Colin (1998). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. V (3rd ed.). MUZE. p. 3677.
- ^ a b The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. Penguin Books Ltd. 1996. p. 903.
- ^ a b Coleman, Nick (April 14, 1995). "A little bit of slap and tickle". Music. The Independent. p. 24.
- ^ "Marcus Miller: The master's voice". Bass Player. 10 (1): 42. January 1999.
- ^ Dean, Mensah (October 12, 1995). "Bassist Marcus Miller blends jazz, R&B and hip-hop...". The Washington Times. p. M2.
- ^ "Marcus Miller". Billboard.
- ^ "Marcus Miller". Recording Academy. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
- ^ "Tales by Marcus Miller". Billboard. 107 (21): 58. May 27, 1995.
- ^ Shuster, Fred (May 12, 1995). "Strange conversations". Los Angeles Daily News. p. L20.
- ^ a b Rassenfoss, Joe (June 2, 1995). "MARCUS MILLER TELLS SOME GOOD 'TALES'". Rocky Mountain News. p. 24D.
- ^ Young, Bob (October 8, 1995). "Miller brings it all together to tell 'Tales' at Scullers". Arts & Lifestyle. Boston Herald. p. 65.
- ^ "'Tales' Marcus Miller". Agenda. The Sunday Age. July 23, 1995. p. 7.
- ^ a b "Marcus Miller - Tales Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic.
- ^ Sweeting, Adam (April 21, 1995). "MARCUS MILLER Tales". The Guardian. p. T12.
- ^ Hughley, Marty (July 21, 1995). "In heavy rotation on the home stereo". Arts and Entertainment. The Oregonian. p. 6.
- ^ Dollar, Steve (October 13, 1995). "Marcus Miller". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. p. P4.