His prowess as a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer has earned him two Grammy awards and the esteem of critics and musicians across genres. As a sideman, his credibility is well-attested—Marcus has played, and in many cases written and produced, for everyone from Miles Davis and Luther Vandross to Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. His solo career has further cemented his status as the preeminent living bass player. With his groundbreaking style and carefully cultivated sound, Marcus has created a unique and massively influential musical voice. Marcus has honed that voice for decades, in part by embracing innovation and using the best tools available. And that’s what brought him to Dunlop Super Bright Bass Strings, our first collaboration.

“The thing about having your own identifiable sound, your own identifiable music, your own identifiable style, is that you still have to grow,” Marcus told us. “And it’s a very tricky thing, because if you stay in the same place, then you’re staying in the same place. And if you change too quickly, you might lose who you are. These Dunlop Strings maintain what everybody’s known me for, but it has a little bit of my old 17-year-old sound when I was playing more raw. This has the best of both worlds. So it’s a way to grow, by finding this new string. And this is the whole thing: trying to evolve but maintaining who you are at the same time.”