Tales (album)

1995 studio album by Marcus Miller

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 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]

## Production

[edit]

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]

## Critical reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview 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] 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]

## Track listing

[edit]

All tracks composed by Marcus Miller except where noted.

1. "The Blues" – 5:35
2. "Tales (Intro)" (Miller, Allen Toussaint) – 0:12
3. "Tales" (Miller, Allen Toussaint) – 5:42
4. "Eric" – 6:16
5. "True Geminis" – 5:36
6. "Rush Over" – 4:57
7. "Running Through My Dreams (Interlude)" – 1:27
8. "Ethiopia" – 5:15
9. "Strange Fruit (Intro)" (Abel Meeropol) – 1:46
10. "Strange Fruit" (Abel Meeropol) – 2:02
11. "Visions" (Stevie Wonder) – 5:37
12. "Tales (Reprise)" – 2:34
13. "Forevermore (Intro)" – 0:32
14. "Forevermore" – 4:59
15. "Infatuation" – 5:08
16. "Come Together" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 5:30

## Personnel

[edit]

* Poogie Bell – Drums
* Dean Brown – Guitar
* Hiram Bullock – Guitar
* Kenny Garrett – Alto Saxophone
* Lalah Hathaway – Vocals
* Jason Miles – Programming
* Marcus Miller – Organ, Synthesizer, Flute, Guitar, Piano, Clarinet (Bass), Bass, Rhythm guitar, Keyboards, Programming, Producer, Engineer, Sampling
* Meshell Ndegeocello – Synthesizer, Vocals
* Q-Tip – Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
* Joshua Redman – Tenor Saxophone
* Michael "Patches" Stewart – Trumpet
* Dave Ward – Programming
* Lenny White – Drums
* Bernard Wright – Organ, Synthesizer, Clavinet, Synthesizer Bass

Production

* Roland Alvarez – engineer
* Ray Bardani – engineer
* Goh Hotoda – engineer
* Bruce Miller – engineer
* Jonathan Miller – engineer
* David Ward II – engineer

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Seymour, Gene (February 1996). "Finding excitement in jazz fusion". Emerge. 7 (4): 102.
2. ^ a b Larkin, Colin (1998). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. V (3rd ed.). MUZE. p. 3677.
3. ^ a b The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. Penguin Books Ltd. 1996. p. 903.
4. ^ a b Coleman, Nick (April 14, 1995). "A little bit of slap and tickle". Music. The Independent. p. 24.
5. ^ "Marcus Miller: The master's voice". Bass Player. 10 (1): 42. January 1999.
6. ^ Dean, Mensah (October 12, 1995). "Bassist Marcus Miller blends jazz, R&B and hip-hop...". The Washington Times. p. M2.
7. ^ "Marcus Miller". Billboard.
8. ^ "Marcus Miller". Recording Academy. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
9. ^ "Tales by Marcus Miller". Billboard. 107 (21): 58. May 27, 1995.
10. ^ Shuster, Fred (May 12, 1995). "Strange conversations". Los Angeles Daily News. p. L20.
11. ^ a b Rassenfoss, Joe (June 2, 1995). "MARCUS MILLER TELLS SOME GOOD 'TALES'". Rocky Mountain News. p. 24D.
12. ^ Young, Bob (October 8, 1995). "Miller brings it all together to tell 'Tales' at Scullers". Arts & Lifestyle. Boston Herald. p. 65.
13. ^ "'Tales' Marcus Miller". Agenda. The Sunday Age. July 23, 1995. p. 7.
14. ^ a b "Marcus Miller - Tales Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic.
15. ^ Sweeting, Adam (April 21, 1995). "MARCUS MILLER Tales". The Guardian. p. T12.
16. ^ Hughley, Marty (July 21, 1995). "In heavy rotation on the home stereo". Arts and Entertainment. The Oregonian. p. 6.
17. ^ Dollar, Steve (October 13, 1995). "Marcus Miller". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. p. P4.

* v
* t
* e

Marcus Miller

Studio albums|

* Suddenly
* Marcus Miller
* The Sun Don't Lie
* Tales
* M²
* The Ozell Tapes
* Silver Rain
* Free
* Marcus
* Renaissance
* Afrodeezia
* Laid Black

Live albums|

* Live & More

With SMV|

* Thunder

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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