Tales (album)

Tales
Studio album by Marcus Miller
Released	May 1995
Genre	Jazz fusion[1]
Length	63:08
Label	PRA[2] Dreyfus[3]
Producer	Marcus Miller
Marcus Miller chronology
The Sun Don't Lie (1993) Tales (1995) Live & More (1998)

Tales is a studio album by American jazz musician Marcus Miller, released in 1995 on PRA/Dreyfus Records.^[4][5] He supported it with a North American tour.^[6]

The album peaked at No. 7 on the US Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and No. 12 on the US Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart.^[7] Tales was also Grammy nominated, in the category of "Best Contemporary Jazz Performance".^[8]

The 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]

Professional ratings

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] Adam Sweeting of 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]

Joe Rassenfoss of The Rocky Mountain News opined that Meshell Ndegeocello "spellbinds with 'Rush Over', a ballad wrought from spoken word and singing."^[11] Marty Hughley of The Oregonian praised Miller's "knack for welding groove to harmonic structure and balancing upscale polish with urban grit."^[16] Steve Miller of 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]

Scott Yanow of AllMusic, in a 3/5 star review wrote, "Marcus Miller's electric bass is a major force throughout the music...A few songs (especially later in the program) 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]

All tracks composed by Marcus Miller except where noted.

1. "The Blues" – 5:45
2. "Tales (Intro)" (Miller, Allen Toussaint) – 0:30
3. "Tales" (Miller, Allen Toussaint) – 5:46
4. "Eric" – 6:16
5. "True Geminis" – 5:35
6. "Rush Over" – 5:00
7. "Running Through My Dreams (Interlude)" – 1:27
8. "Ethiopia" – 5:15
9. "Strange Fruit (Intro)" (Abel Meeropol) – 1:20
10. "Strange Fruit" (Abel Meeropol) – 2:14
11. "Visions" (Stevie Wonder) – 5:36
12. "Tales (Reprise)" – 2:34
13. "Forevermore (Intro)" – 0:31
14. "Forevermore" – 4:58
15. "Infatuation" – 5:08
16. "Come Together" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 5:30

European, Japanese and other US Releases

1. "The Blues" - 5:45
2. "Tales" - 5:46
3. "Eric" - 6:16
4. "True Geminis" - 5:35
5. "Rush Over" - 5:18
6. "Running Through My Dreams (Interlude)" - 1:27
7. "Ethiopia" - 5:15
8. "Strange Fruit" - 3:19
9. "Visions" - 4:48
10. "Brazilian Rhyme" (Maurice White) - 5:01
11. "Forevermore" - 5:07
12. "Infatuation" - 5:08
13. "Tales (Reprise)" - 2:34
14. "Come Together" - 5:30

• Marcus Miller – Wurlitzer electric piano (1, 4), bass guitar (1, 3-8, 11, 14-16), rhythm programming (1, 3-5, 7, 8, 11, 14-16), vocal samples (1, 15, 16), synthesizers (3, 4, 8, 10, 16), sound programming (3-7, 10, 11, 14, 15), organ (4), rhythm guitar (4), keyboards (5-7, 11, 14, 15), guitars (5, 16), bass clarinet (5, 6, 8, 10), African flute (7), voice recording (14)
• Bernard Wright – organ (1, 4), synthesizers (1), clavinet (3), synth lines (8), marimbas (8), electric piano (15), synth bass (16)
• David Ward – sound programming (1, 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 14-16)
• Jason Miles – additional sound programming (5)
• Meshell Ndegeocello – synth solo (6), vocals (6)
• Hiram Bullock – lead guitar solo (4)
• Dean Brown – guitars (16)
• Poogie Bell – drums (1, 3, 4, 6, 11, 14, 16), drum fills (8)
• Lenny White – drum fills (4)
• Bashiri Johnson – percussion samples (8)
• Kenny Garrett – alto saxophone (1, 3-5, 8, 11, 15)
• Joshua Redman – tenor sax solo (5)
• Michael "Patches" Stewart – trumpet (1, 3, 5, 8, 11, 14)
• Bill Cosby – vocal samples (1)
• Q-Tip – spoken intro (2)
• The Pointer Sisters – vocal samples (3, 13)
• Eric Gale – voice recording (4)
• Miles Davis – voice recording (5)
• Bill Withers – spoken intro (9)
• Joe Sample – rap (12)
• Roberta Flack – spoken intro (13)
• Lalah Hathaway – vocals (15)
• Jonathan "Juice" Miller – funky intro (16)
• Julian "Juju" Miller – funky intro (16)

Musicians on "Brazilian Rhyme"

• Marcus Miller – keyboards, bass guitar, sound programming
• Bernard Wright – synthesizers, synth bass
• David Ward – sound programming
• Poogie Bell – drums
• Kenny Garrett – alto saxophone
• Michael "Patches" Stewart – trumpet
• Lalah Hathaway – vocals

• Marcus Miller – producer, additional recording
• David Ward II – co-producer, recording
• Goh Hotoda – mixing (1, 3, 6, 10, 12, 15, 16), additional recording, mixing on "Brazilian Rhyme"
• Ray Bardani – mixing (4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 14), additional recording
• Roland Alvarez – additional recording
• Bruce Miller – additional recording
• Jonathan Miller – additional recording
• Eric Flickinger – assistant engineer
• Jim Labinski – assistant engineer
• Jay Militscher – assistant engineer
• Bernie Grundman – mastering at Bernie Grundman Mastering (Hollywood, California)
• Bibi Green – production coordinator
• Norman Moore – art designer
• William Claxton – front cover photography, insert photography
• Hideo Oida – back cover photography, additional photography
• Patrick Rains & Associates – management