Bass Player News
Marcus Miller Designated UNESCO Artist for Peace, Celebrates Emancipation at the United Nations
The concert will take place at the United Nations General Assembly Hall on Friday, March 22, 2013 at 7:00 pm (by invitation only). The musical program will follow the slave trade route, starting with artists from Africa, then the Caribbean and finally North America. Along with Miller, there will be performances by the National Ballet of Cameroon, Benyoro (a West African band), Somi (an American singer of Rwandan and Ugandan origins) and Steel Pulse (an English reggae band of Afro-Caribbean, Indian and Asian descent).
Marcus Miller is a two-time Grammy Award winning American jazz musician, composer, producer, and radio host who is best known for his mastery of the bass guitar and his collaboration with legendary artists Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Luther Vandross and David Sanborn. Miller began working with UNESCO in April 2012, when he participated with the first International Jazz Day organized by UNESCO with the Thelonious Monk Institute, performing with Hugh Masekela and giving master classes to young people. He will participate again this year. The official ceremony to designate him a UNESCO Artist for Peace will take place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on July 4, 2013. In his new capacity, Miller will work with UNESCO’s Slave Route Project and will focus on promoting peace, dialogue, and unity through music. For more information on Friday’s concert: un.org/en/events/slaveryremembranceday/index.shtml
The International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade serves as an opportunity to honor and remember those who suffered and died at the hands of the brutal slavery system, and to raise awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice today. For more information on events for this celebration, visit the Remember Slavery website at http://rememberslavery.un.org. The twitter feed for the event is @rememberslavery.
On August 7, 2012, Miller returned to composing and exploring new music of his own on his latest release Renaissance with a sharper focus than ever before, a new band of curious and like-minded young musicians, and a mission to travel the world – country by country, city by city, venue by venue – to take the message of this musical movement straight to the hearts, souls and minds of the people. Renaissance was nominated for a 2013 NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Jazz Album.