Unless you’re a well-schooled jazz or R&B fan, Marcus Miller is probably the best bass player you’ve never heard of. The Grammy Award-winning Miller has played bass for Miles Davis, David Sanborn, and Luther Vandross, and also played bass and bass clarinet in a band called Legends, with Eric Clapton. He’s got his own signature bass (the Fender Marcus Miller Jazz Bass, available in 4- and 5-string versions) and is also one of the most in-demand R&B producers in the world, having co-produced/arranged most of Vandross’ albums from 1981 onward, as well as records by Al Jarreau, and The Crusaders.

Almost seven years after the release of Mesa-based Jimmy Eat World’s Bleed American album, it might be easy for some people to forget the magnitude of that record — especially since JEW’s post-Bleed American albums, Futures (2004) and this year’s Chase the Light, haven’t even come close to matching the commercial success of Bleed American. Some might even wonder if Jimmy Eat World, the Valley’s largest breakout band since the Gin Blossoms, will be resigned to the same sort of national collective remembrance that befell the Blossoms — if it’s not something from the ’90s like “Hey Jealousy,” “Found Out About You,” or “Follow You Down,” they don’t want to hear it. Do people in Virginia even know that the Gin Blossoms released an album (Major Lodge Victory) in 2006? It’s really good. It’s just not on the radio like all their stuff from 1992’s New Miserable Experience still is.

The Wiley family’s produced its share of local music talent. Sisters Marta and Cristiana were the cornerstone of estro-art rockers W.O.M.B., and now their brother, Sammy Wiley, has released his first CD as “The Wiley One.”

This week was a like a rock-revival for concert announcements — acts that haven’t toured in forever are loading up the buses and making their way into the Valley. But as you’ll see, some newer, underground acts will be breaking in the stages here as well.

Avril Lavigne, scheduled to perform at Cricket Wireless Pavilion on Friday, May 2, is suffering from laryngitis and her concert has been canceled.

Local indie rock band Source Victoria [http://www.myspace.com.sourcevictoria] is offering its CD, the fast escape for free download on its Web site, www.sourcevictoria.net. The album, hailed as “a beautiful narcotic” by Phoenix New Times music writer Serene Dominic in his recent feature [http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2008-01-17/music/phoenix-band-source-victoria-s-brew-of-distress-and-pleasure-just-may-have-created-a-new-genre-xanaxcore/] on the band, was produced by Chris Testa (Jimmy Eat World, Dixie Chicks) and has garnered accolades from such local superstars as Jim Adkins from Jimmy Eat World.

You want real “alternative” music? How about a CD titled Stories Told: Harmonized Peyote Songs? That’s the title of the new collection of authentic Native American folk songs from Grammy award-winner Verdell Primeaux with Terry Hanks. It’s one of several releases of indigenous music, folk dance, and pow-wow songs from Canyon Records, a local label that’s the focus of this week’s Local Label Spotlight.

The local garage rock babes of Bella have decided to reunite for one show, on Thursday, May 1, at The Rogue.

There is a new museum slated to open in Phoenix in early 2010, but it’s already kicking up some controversy. The Musical Instrument Museum, under construction at Tatum and Mayo Boulevards, just purchased a collection of rare instruments from California’s Claremont University. The 1200-piece collection includes 19th-century slide trumpets, an oboe by Lehnhold, a curved English horn from the 1760s, and a treble viol by Leandri Bisiach.

Just when you thought the ’80s nostalgia kick was over, promoters announce a ton of My Decade acts that are getting back on the bus, twenty years past their primes. Such throwback outings have been successful because, these days, nostalgia equates to relevance. But ‘80s popsters aren’t the only musicians hitting the road this summer — read on for an eclectic list of just-announced shows.

When I first pulled into the parking lot of Joe’s Grotto and saw only six cars sitting there, I thought to myself, “Maybe this show will be like the Ramones’ first gig – where there were only like, five people in the audience, but it was an historic event.”

I’m here to see local rock band Downward Dog. I’d heard about the band through a friend of a friend, and since Joe’s Grotto is one of my favorite venues, I thought, “Why not?”

Phoenix post-hardcore band Greeley Estates has lost and replaced six members since forming in 2002, but that hasn’t prevented them from achieving several sonic milestones, including playing every date on the Vans Warped Tour in 2005 and 2006 (as well as every date on the 2006 Taste of Chaos tour), and co-headlining the MySpace Fall Tour 2005.

Geometry? History? Computer Science? Taking classes in those disciplines may be part of the college experience, but they’ve never been the fun part. Now, local hipsters have an educational alternative to the extracurricular activities of keg parties and co-ed car washes. Glendale Community College offers a class called MUC 110: Music Business and Marketing, and this semester’s class project is the launch of an indie record label called Versus Records.

Cat Power fans who had tickets to the canceled show at Marquee Theatre on April 17 will get a second chance to see Chan Marshall and company perform. Stateside Presents has just announced that Cat Power has rescheduled for Tuesday, October 7, at the Marquee Theatre. Tickets for the April 17 show will be honored. Additional tickets are available for $24 at the Marquee box office, and at www.statesidepresents.com.

Yesterday, news of American Idol winner Jordin Sparks’ throat injury was all over the Internet, along with speculation that the 18 year-old Phoenix resident might never sing again. Initially, media were unable to reach Sparks, her family, or her management for comment, prompting fears that the injury was serious and possibly “career-threatening.”

Many people in P-town are transplants who’ve made the trek from elsewhere to try and build a better life here in the Valley of the Sun. Some people, like John W. Edwards, bring their booming indie businesses with them. This week, we’d like to give a Local Label Spotlight shout-out to Edwards’ Renaissance Records.