''Tales'' is an album by the American musician Marcus Miller, released in 1995. He supported it with a North American tour. The album peaked at No. 7 on '' Billboards Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. It was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

, in the "Best Contemporary Jazz Performance" category.

Production

The album was produced by Miller. It samples the voices of several Black American musicians. "Eric" is dedicated to the guitarist

Eric Gale Eric Gale (September 20, 1938 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. ''Early life and career'' Born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York, Gale grew up in a diverse household. His paternal grandfather was from Yorksh ...

. Miller wrote or cowrote nine of the album's songs; the title track was written with Allen Toussaint.

Critical reception

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' 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." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' 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." The ''

Rocky Mountain News The ''Rocky Mountain News'' (nicknamed the ''Rocky'') was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States, from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As ...

'' opined that

Meshell Ndegeocello Michelle Lynn Johnson, better known as Meshell Ndegeocello (; born August 29, 1968), is a German-born American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on so ...

"spellbinds with 'Rush Over', a ballad wrought from spoken word and singing." ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...

'' praised Miller's "knack for welding groove to harmonic structure and balancing upscale polish with urban grit." ''

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'' deemed Miller "a fusionaire whose slickness is cued to the marketplace, but he also knows how to round up a band."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

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."

Track listing

All tracks composed by Marcus Miller except where noted. # "The Blues" – 5:35 # "Tales (Intro)" (Miller, Allen Toussaint) – 0:12 # "Tales" (Miller, Allen Toussaint) – 5:42 # "Eric" – 6:16 # "True Geminis" – 5:36 # "Rush Over" – 4:57 # "Running Through My Dreams (Interlude)" – 1:27 # "Ethiopia" – 5:15 # " Strange Fruit (Intro)" ( Abel Meeropol) – 1:46 # "Strange Fruit" (Abel Meeropol) – 2:02 # "Visions" ( Stevie Wonder) – 5:37 # "Tales (Reprise)" – 2:34 # "Forevermore (Intro)" – 0:32 # "Forevermore" – 4:59 # "Infatuation" – 5:08 # "

Come Together "Come Together" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on their 1969 album ''Abbey Road'' and was also released as a single coupled with " Somethi ...

" (

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

) – 5:30

Personnel

Poogie Bell Charles Bell Jr. (born February 11, 1961, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), better known by his stage name Poogie Bell, is an American jazz drummer, composer, band leader and producer. Bell is best known as a drummer, working extensively with bassists ...

– Drums *

Dean Brown Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

– Guitar *

Hiram Bullock Hiram Law Bullock (September 11, 1955 – July 25, 2008) was an American guitarist known mainly for playing in jazz funk and jazz fusion, but he also worked as a session musician in a variety of genres. Biography Bullock was born in Osaka, Jap ...

– Guitar * Kenny Garrett – Alto Saxophone *

Lalah Hathaway Eulaulah Donyll "Lalah" Hathaway (born December 16, 1968) is an American singer. In 1990 Hathaway released her first album titled ''Lalah Hathaway''. After releasing another album, titled '' A Moment'' (1994), it debuted at number 34 on the To ...

– Vocals *

Jason Miles Jason Miles (born June 30, 1951) is an American jazz keyboardist, composer, and record producer. Throughout his career, he has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, bassist Marcus Miller, and singer Luther Vandross, as well as maintaining a successfu ...

– Programming *Marcus Miller – Organ, Synthesizer, Flute, Guitar, Piano, Clarinet (Bass), Bass, Rhythm guitar, Keyboards, Programming, Producer, Engineer, Sampling *

– Synthesizer, Vocals * Q-Tip – Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part *

Joshua Redman Joshua Redman (born February 1, 1969) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He is the son of jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman (1931–2006). Life and career Joshua Redman was born in Berkeley, California, to jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman ...

– Tenor Saxophone *Michael "Patches" Stewart – Trumpet *Dave Ward – Programming * Lenny White – Drums *

Bernard Wright Bernard Wright (November 16, 1963 – May 19, 2022) was an American funk and jazz keyboardist and singer who began his career as a session musician and later released four solo albums. Biography Wright was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York. I ...

– 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

{{Authority control Marcus Miller albums 1995 albums Albums produced by Marcus Miller Jazz fusion albums by American artists