It’s almost been a year since I started this series, the second entrant for which was my beloved Marcus Miller. This week, it’s time for another dose. I have a couple reasons:

1. It’s Marcus.
2. A few weeks ago, I saw his solo band live (finally!) at Detroit’s Jazz Cafe at Music Hall.

Outside of the coasts, he rarely tours the US, so it was nice to see him visit the mitten. This year he has been touring with his new (younger) band – occasionally with a different keyboardist and/or trumpeter – instead of the usual crew of Poogie, Patches, et al., the members of which are featured on this summer’s Renaissance. It was so great to see him and his group in such an intimate venue. The video below doesn’t even begin to capture the energy that was present.

Here’s footage of a performance of “Detroit” (from the new album) in Marciac, France. As with everything Marcus touches, this is FUNKY:

The band above is:
Adam Agati – Guitar
Kris Bowers – Keys
Louis Cato – Drums
Alex Han – Sax
Sean Jones – Trumpet

And here’s a little clip from the Detroit show featuring Miller’s Detroiter protégé Brandon Ross: