Getting Back to Bass-ics : A New Album Has Given Producer Marcus Miller the Chance to Play Up His Instrumental Side

Marcus Miller has been mainly known as a producer, the man who has overseen scores of albums, from Miles Davis’ “Amandla” and “Tutu” to David Sanborn’s “Straight to the Heart.” This year alone, he has produced Sanborn’s “Hearsay,” Al Jarreau’s “Try a Little Tenderness” and Luther Vandross’ “Never Let Me Go.”

It has gotten to the point where a lot of people forget that Miller entered the world of professional music about 15 years ago as a bassist who has displayed his extraordinary talents in performances with everyone from Davis, Sanborn and Vandross to Joe Sample, Aretha Franklin and McCoy Tyner.

That’s all changed now. Miller, 33, has a current album, “The Sun Don’t Lie” on PRA Records, and its release has given him the impetus to pick up his ax and walk.

“If I didn’t have an album out, there didn’t seem to be any sense in touring,” Miller said. “But people didn’t know if I had given up playing; I realized that when I went to Europe this spring. I hadn’t been there for 12 years, since I was there with Miles, and the French treated me like a returning prodigal son, while the Germans were angry, like, ‘Where have you been?’ ”

Miller, a native of Brooklyn who grew up in Jamaica, N.Y., has only been playing scattered club dates in the past few years, hardly enough to keep himself sharp. Now he’s on the road and has put in about six months of steady playing throughout Europe and the United States. He appears tonight with his band at the Hyatt Newporter.

“Playing feels nice, but even nicer is the reaction from the people,” said Miller, whose band spotlights reedman Kenny Garrett, drummer Lenny White and keyboardist Bernard Wright, players he has known through various projects. “We interact, talking to each other with our instruments.”

Miller’s music has a buoyant contemporary feel to it. Sometimes pieces are driven by walloping rhythms, at others the sounds are lyrical and serene. Asked if he wanted to categorize what he’s playing now, Miller laughed.

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“I call it fusion. It’s a word I avoided for 10 years, but that’s the best one to describe it. It’s been so long since fusion was around that people no longer have preconceived notions about it. I combine different elements, mB, with jazz. That seems to get me off the hook.”

The bassist will be playing tunes from “The Sun Don’t Lie” and other selections, including “Catembe” and “Tutu,” which he wrote and recorded with Davis. He admits his band doesn’t have a big repertoire yet, but he wants to build it up by taking some older material--say, from his two mid-’80s Warner Bros. albums, “Suddenly” and “Marcus Miller”--and dusting it off.

“I like to run a tune down at the sound check and then try it,” Miller said from his West Coast home in Brentwood, where he lives with his wife and their 5-year-old son. “With musicians like these, it’s good to throw them a curve ball every now and then. It takes a certain amount of courage when you play stuff, and you really don’t know if it’s going to work.”

But even if he’s playing the same repertoire night after night, the music still sounds different, Miller said, because each audience is different.

“Music always connects you to the people who are hearing it, and you can’t ignore it. You get a different reaction--from the band, from the audience--and you have to pace your show accordingly. That’s why we’re a jazz band. That’s the whole point. We vibe off each other, off the people and try to play what we feel.”

During his days ensconced in the studio as a producer, Miller definitely took time off from his instrument, but he feels that he’s starting to get some of the punch back that makes performing such a thrill.

“At least I’m back to zero,” he said. “I’m getting stronger, where I can begin to play what I’m thinking instead of worrying if I’m going to be able to play the lick. Now, there are times when I can’t wait to get on stage and do something. Excite the band, excite the people.”

Miller said his period with Davis, with whom he played in the early ‘80s, after the trumpeter returned to the stage after a seven-year hiatus, remains key in his career.

“He helped me dig into myself,” Miller said. “He wasn’t settling for anything mediocre. He helped me develop my style. And I learned from him that you can’t be affected by what others say about you. You just have to be honest about who you are and what you’re doing. If you follow that, you won’t have problems.”

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Miller looks at the life of a musician as a blessing, and he doesn’t take that for granted.

“If you can get to the point where people are interested in what you are expressing, what you have to say, you’re really fortunate. So before each show, I get the guys together and say a prayer: ‘God, you know you didn’t have to put us here together, and we’re truly thankful.’ That puts everybody in the right space so they can go on stage not thinking about themselves, or what’s wrong, but ‘Let’s check out what’s right.’ ”

* Marcus Miller plays at 7:30 p.m. today at the Hyatt Newporter, 1107 Jamboree Road, Newport Beach. $15. Food and beverages are available. (714) 729-1234.