Well, I've just come back from the best 'Bass' performance I've ever seen and there wasn't a single Alembic to be seen.
I saw Marcus Miller last night and he was simply astounding. I was pretty awestruck, not so much by his technical ablility which was enormous, but by the musicality of the whole band. Whenever I've seen other bass led groups, it's been obvious that the band has been there purely to back up the leader and in some cases, they needn't have been there at all - the recent Stanley Clarke show in London is a case in point.
With Marcus's music, even though the Bass was as 'up-front' as it could possibly be, I never felt that it was a Bass gig, instead it just became part of the music. That's not to say it was overshadowed in any way. In fact, from my position 4 feet in front of the stage and less than 10 feet from his rig, I could literally feel every note he played. He is backed up by some superb musicians, patches Stewart on trumpet and Poogie bell on drums to name the two more famous members, but the others, Keith Anderson on sax, bobby sparks on keyboards and gregoire maret on harmonica were equally superb despite me never having heard them.
All through the show, it was obvious that Marcus was loving what he was doing and appreciated the crowds response, both to his solos and to those of his band. They have alot of fun onstage and the interaction, even within obviously improvised pieces seemed telepathic at points. He played a sustained 1 1/2 hour set, including a few tunes from his new album - blast and Stevie wonder's higher ground, interspersed with many of his better known works. Highlights were his rendition of amazing grace which he played on bass clarinet and a storming version of the beatles' Come Together which he strung out to over 15 minutes. This song marked the end of his set but the crowd reaction was such that there was no way he'd make it out of the place without an encore which he duly gave after first asking the audience what they'd like to hear. After a few moments banter, he announced he was going to play something He wanted and launched into a Tower of Power number, at times sounding just like Rocco but never losing his own identity. Ten minutes or so it was all over but marcus took the time to shake hands with fans and stop to chat to everyone on his way from the stage to the dressing room (something Stanley couldn't be bothered with).
For the gear heads, he predominantly played his natural finish Jazz but also used a sunburst fretless Jazz for one number (plus of course his clarinet). He no longer endorses EBS, now having a Marcucmiller M2 signature preamp from SWR. Power came from an SWR Goliath 750 which was powering a pair of goliath 4x10 cabs. On the floor he had a huge array of pedals including all the EBS range, a bug muff and several others I didn't recognise.
I'm going off now to listen to some of his recordings. If you get the chance to see him live, don't miss it!
Graeme
