Tales is an album by the American musician Marcus Miller, released in 1995.[4][5] He supported it with a North American tour.[6]
The album peaked at No. 7 on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.[7] It was nominated for a Grammy Award, in the "Best Contemporary Jazz Performance" category.[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]
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]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]
The Rocky Mountain News opined that Meshell Ndegeocello "spellbinds with 'Rush Over', a ballad wrought from spoken word and singing."[11]The Oregonian praised Miller's "knack for welding groove to harmonic structure and balancing upscale polish with urban grit."[16]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]
AllMusic wrote that some songs "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]