Watching Michael Jackson was like taking a history lesson and a lesson on the future at the same time. If that werenโt enough, Michael then went and single-handedly revolutionized music videos. Itโs amazing that today, some twenty-five years later, everyone who makes a pop music video still feels obligated to include a 'group dance' sequence like the one Michael pioneered in 'Beat It'. Thatโs how influential and ahead of the times he was.
Marcus MillerI got so many emails and text messages, my phone blew up because it couldn't handle everybody. It's like almost being at your own funeral because of the way the headline read.
Marcus MillerI revisited some music that I had written for Miles Devis. I used to work with Miles in the '80s. We did an album - "Tutu," that was really successful for Miles, and a couple of years ago we did "Tutu Revisited," and this is where we played the music from "Tutu." But I knew Miles would absolutely hate it if we just got on the stage and played the music the same way we did it in the '80s.
Marcus MillerMiles Davis came in a couple of days and said, "Oh, man, I love that. Keep going." So he said, "Let me know when you need trumpet." And he came in, and he was sitting there, and I was very intimidated, because now he's going to play the trumpet on something that I wrote." He starts to play, and I go, "That's not right, but I don't know how to tell him it's not right." Finally he goes, "When are you going to tell me what to do?" He said, "This is your music. I know you know how it's supposed to sound. Stop fooling around. We don't have time."
Marcus MillerWatching Michael Jackson was like taking a history lesson and a lesson on the future at the same time. If that werenโt enough, Michael then went and single-handedly revolutionized music videos. Itโs amazing that today, some twenty-five years later, everyone who makes a pop music video still feels obligated to include a 'group dance' sequence like the one Michael pioneered in 'Beat It'. Thatโs how influential and ahead of the times he was.
Marcus MillerIt's so important to me to make the music right that I didn't have time to be intimidated.
Marcus MillerThere's a lot of guys who have great technique, people practicing a lot and you hear them, but there's not that many people who when you hear them, you go, "Man, that guy must practice a lot," right? Then you hear Miles Davis play, and you go, "Man, I had a girlfriend like that." That's a whole another level of musicianship.
Marcus Miller