Marcus Miller: ‘I came of age during black power. I had no sense of inferiority’

When Marcus Miller came face to face with one of the darkest landmarks in African-American history during a 2010 world tour, he didn't just curse the dreadful silence. He struck a note of hope and of gratitude. Five years later, that note is still ringing in his ears.

Gorée, a tiny island off the coast of Senegal, was one of the final African staging posts for the Atlantic slave trade, and its infamous “Door of No Return” was the last sight many Africans had of their homeland before being packed on to ships for transportation to the New World.

"I had heard about Gorée for many years," says Miller, a multi-Grammy-winning bassist and producer. "So I thought I was ready for it emotionally. But there is nothing like standing there in the place that it happened. I was very much affected.

“There was rage, there was anger, there was resentment, there was all of that. But there was gratitude too,” he says, brightening. “I was just really thankful to my ancestors, who had somehow survived that terrible journey and managed to maintain their dignity through 400 years of bondage.

“And I was also thankful for music, because I really think that music helped sustain my ancestors through those incredibly difficult times.”

From that day on, Gorée had a new meaning for Miller, as the name of a tune. This soaring, optimistic rhapsody is now a staple of his live performances. It has taken him on a journey of his own, one that would surely make his ancestors proud.

Black consciousness

Miller was born in Brooklyn in 1959 and was initiated at a young age into black consciousness. His grandfather was a close associate of Marcus Garvey, one of the founding fathers of Pan-Africanism. When it came to naming his son, Miller’s father chose to name him after the great Jamaican leader.

"I remember the day Martin Luther King was shot," says Miller. "That was the first time my dad really sat me down and explained to me the whole deal. Fortunately for me, very soon after that James Brown came out with a song called Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud, and it was incredible. I was seven years old, and it was the coolest thing I had ever heard. All of a sudden, Afro hairstyles came into fashion, and kids in the streets of Brooklyn were singing I'm Black and I'm Proud.

“So I came of age in this black power movement, and it shaped me. There was no sense of inferiority that I walked around with, though I think people from my father’s generation had to deal with that.”

Music was an important part of the Miller heritage. His father, William, was an accomplished pianist who played the organ in the local church; and William’s cousin Wynton Kelly was a great jazz pianist and a key member of Miles Davis’s group in the 1950s. Miller remembers sitting on Wynton’s knee, “adding wrong notes to whatever he was playing on the piano”.

Miller and Miles

Years later, when Miller himself joined the Miles Davis group, he says that nobody in his family was that impressed. “ ‘Oh yeah,’ they said, ‘like cousin Wynton,’ ” he recalls, laughing.

Miller was only 21 when the call came to play on The Man with the Horn (1981), Davis's first record after a self-imposed silence of five years. For the young bassist, it was the beginning of a remarkable career trajectory that has seen him credited on more than 500 records, not only as a bassist but as a composer and producer for such r'n'b royalty as Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and Luther Vandross, as well as Frank Sinatra, Elton John and Eric Clapton.

His close association with Davis culminated in the 1986 album Tutu, whose title track Miller wrote as an homage to the great South African leader Desmond Tutu. With its taut r'n'b grooves and meticulously layered production, Tutu is regarded by many as Davis's last great recording. It cemented Miller's reputation as a first-call producer.

Tutu was also important because it raised awareness in the US of apartheid. Now, 30 years later, Miller has found a new mission. When Irina Bokova, the director-general of Unesco, heard Miller perform Gorée in Paris in 2012, she invited the bassist to become a spokesman for the organisation's Slave Route Project.

Jamming on the slave route

Miller hasn't simply lent them his name; he has thrown himself into the role. His latest album, Afrodeezia, describes his personal journey since that dark day on Gorée island.

“I decided to put my money where my mouth was and do a dedication to this journey of my ancestors by collaborating with musicians at different stops along the slave route,” he says. “I jammed with musicians from Senegal, from Mali, from Burkina Faso, and then across the Atlantic. I played in Morocco and a week later I was in Brazil, and I’m hearing this rhythm in the samba that I had just heard in north Africa.

“I realised that, although these slaves couldn’t write down their history and record it that way, you can hear the whole history in the rhythms.”

Referring to the ongoing challenges of racism in the US, Miller says that “things are not great right now. But you have to take a moment to celebrate whatever progress you’ve made so that you don’t get too depressed and lose hope. We have made considerable strides since slavery, although we’ve got a whole lot more work, particularly in the US.

“Let’s take a minute to just say, ‘Look. Progress is possible.’ ”

• Marcus Miller plays Guinness Jazz Festival in Cork on Saturday, October 24th, guinnessjazzfestival.com. More on Unesco Slave Route Project at unesco.org

GUINNESS JAZZ FESTIVAL: FOUR SHOWS TO CATCH

Cork’s annual bacchanal continues to stretch the definition of the J word to breaking point: this year’s headliners include electro-pop pioneer Gary Numan and Irish punk legends The Boomtown Rats, but there are still a few crumbs for the jazz aficionado.

Marcus Miller/Peter King and Urban Jazz

Everyman Theatre, Saturday, October 24th

This double bill features Miller’s band and a group led by British saxophonist King, which includes fellow UK sax man Julian Arguelles and Irish drummer Stephen Keogh.

Savina Yannatou/Umbra

Triskel Christchurch, Saturday, October 24th

Greek singer Savina Yannatou will appear in a freewheeling improv session with legendary British bassist Barry Guy and mercurial Irish-based pianist Francesco Turrisi. Guitarist Chris Guilfoyle’s Umbra are standard-bearers for the fresh sounds coming out of the burgeoning Dublin scene.

Phil Ware Trio & Peter Bernstein

Triskel Christchurch, Sunday, October 25th

Hard-swinging Dublin pianist Phil Ware begins a six-month residency at Triskel with renowned US guitarist Peter Bernstein.

3G/Gogo Penguin

Triskel Christchurch, Sunday, , October 25th 

Three members of the famous Guilfoyle dynasty come together – brothers Ronan and Conor on bass and drums and Ronan’s son Chris on guitar. GoGo Penguin are a UK piano trio who mix Aphex Twin with Shostakovich.