Mulgrew Miller
Miller in 2004
Background information
Born	August 13, 1955 Greenwood, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	May 29, 2013 (aged 57) Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupations	Musician, composer
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1970s–2013
Labels	Landmark, Novus, Maxjazz
Associated acts	Art Blakey, Woody Shaw, Tony Williams

Mulgrew Miller (August 13, 1955 – May 29, 2013) was an American jazz pianist. Miller’s style was influential in jazz during the 1980s and 90s, and was in the tradition of Oscar Peterson and McCoy Tyner. Miller appeared on more than 400 albums.

Early life

Mulgrew Miller was born in Greenwood, Mississippi, to parents who had been raised on plantations. He had three brothers and four sisters. His family was not musical, but they had a piano, which no-one in the house could play. Miller, however, played tunes on the piano from the age of six, playing by ear. He had piano lessons from the age of eight. As a child, he played blues and rhythm and blues for dances, and gospel music in a church. His family was Methodist, but he played in churches of various denominations. His principal influence on piano at this stage was Ramsey Lewis.While at high school, he formed a trio that played at cocktail parties. His elder brother recommended that he listen to pianist Oscar Peterson, but there was no way of doing this in Greenwood until Peterson appeared onThe Joey Bishop Show on television when Miller was about 14. After watching Peterson’s performance, Miller decided to become a pianist: “It was a life changing event. I knew right then that I would be a jazz pianist”. Miller later mentioned Art Tatum and Erroll Garner as piano influences during his teenage years. Years later, Miller reported that he always found that playing fast was easy, so playing slowly and with more control were what he had to work hardest on.

After graduating from Greenwood High School, Miller became a student at Memphis State University in 1973, attending with a band scholarship. He played euphonium, but, during his two years at the university, Miller met pianists Donald Brown and James Williams, who introduced him to the music of well-known players such as Wynton Kelly, Bud Powell, and McCoy Tyner. Still at Memphis State, he attended a jazz workshop, where one of the tutors was his future bandleader, Woody Shaw, who stated that he would see Miller again in two years. Two years later, they did meet again, and Shaw remembered Miller. After leaving university in 1975, Miller took lessons privately in Boston with Madame Margaret Chaloff, who had taught many of the pianists that Miller admired. He later commented that, “I should have stayed with her longer, […] but at that time I was so restless, constantly on the move.” While in Boston that winter, Miller was invited to Los Angeles by a school friend and decided to go, to escape the northern cold. He stayed on the West Coast for a year, playing locally in clubs and a church.

Career

Near the end of 1976 Miller was invited to substitute for the regular pianist in the Duke Ellington Orchestra (led by Mercer Ellington). He had done the same thing for one weekend around a year earlier, and the new work was to be for only three weeks, but Miller ultimately toured with the orchestra for almost three years. He left in January 1980, after being recruited by vocalistBetty Carter, with whom he toured for eight months in 1980. He was then part of Shaw’s band from 1981 to 1983, thereby, in Miller’s view, fulfilling his destiny from their earlier meetings. In 1981 he made his studio recording debut, on Shaw’s United.During the early 1980s he also accompanied vocalist Carmen Lundy, and played and recorded with saxophonist Johnny Griffin. Miller was recommended to join Art Blakey‘s Jazz Messengers by Blakey members Terence Blanchard and Donald Harrison, and he stayed in the drummer’s band from 1983 to 1986. Initially, he struggled to fit in with Blakey dominating the rhythm section, but stated that, over his period with the band, “My playing just generally matured. I don’t think one single characteristic changed, but the experience certainly boosted my confidence”. At times during concert performances, Miller was allotted a solo piano spot, which he used to play medleys. His presence in the Jazz Messengers cemented his reputation within jazz. A review of a solo concert in 1986 noted that his playing showed the influence of Powell on some numbers and Kelly on others, but that, overall, Miller was developing “his own, authoritative style”.

After leaving Blakey, Miller was pianist in Tony Williams‘ quintet from its foundation in 1986 until the drummer’s death, in 1997. Miller remained busy between tours with Williams’ band, in part by touring in a group known as “Trio Transition”, with bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Freddie Waits. He also played on the first three albums recorded by Williams bandmate Wallace Roney(1987–89), and a large number of albums recorded by other leaders in the 1980s. The influence of Williams continued into Miller’s own projects, including their compositions and arrangements: The Guardian reviewer of Miller’s Hand in Hand (1992) commented that “it’s his occasional boss, drummer Tony Williams, who has made the strongest impression on the way he organises the material. The opening “Grew’s Tune” and the bluesier numbers would slot unnoticed into the Williams library.” In 1992 Miller also toured domestically and internationally with the “New York Jazz Giants”, a septet containing John Faddis, Bobby Watson, Carl Allen, Tom Harrell, Lew Tabackin, and Ray Drummond. Miller continued to accompany vocalists, including on recordings withDianne Reeves and Cassandra Wilson. In 1989 he joined three other pianists in recording a CD tribute to Memphis pianistPhineas Newborn, Jr. This group, the “Contemporary Piano Ensemble”, performed intermittently until 1996, often playing together on four separate pianos. In 1997 Miller went on tour in Japan with 100 Golden Fingers, a troupe of 10 pianists.

In 1987 Miller formed his own band, named “Wingspan”, as, he explained, “sort of a dedication to the legacy of Charlie Parker– Bird, you know.” It became one of Miller’s main bands, enduring through changes of personnel, and featured a lot of his compositions in its performances. He made over 15 albums under his own name during his career, beginning with Keys to the City in 1985. There were also four live albums in the early 2000s: Live at The Kennedy Center Vol. 1 and Live at The Kennedy Center Vol. 2 (2002), with Derrick Hodge (bass) and Rodney Green (drums); and Live at Yoshi’s Vol. 1 and Live at Yoshi’s Vol. 2(2003), with Hodge and Karriem Riggins (drums). His last working trio consisted of Ivan Taylor on bass and Green on drums.

In 1990 Miller traveled to the Soviet Union to appear as pianist in saxophonist Benny Golson‘s band at the first Moscow International Jazz Festival.

For several years after he had turned 40, Miller decided to concentrate on composing and playing his own music. He therefore reduced his recording and club appearances, as well as one-day associations. Miller joined bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen in 1999 to record duets based on performances by Duke Ellington and Jimmy Blanton. The pair toured Europe the following year, with drummer Alvin Queen added for some concerts. In 2002 Miller’s discography as leader began to expand again, as Maxjazz began to release recordings, mostly from concerts.

In 2002 Miller joined bassist Ron Carter‘s Golden Striker Trio, with guitarist Russell Malone. The trio occasionally toured internationally for the next decade. In the mid-2000s, Miller joined bassist Dave Holland‘s group, changing it from a quintet to a sextet. Around this time, Miller had two regular bands of his own: a piano trio, and a quintet featuring saxophone and vibraphone. In 2006 Lafayette College awarded him an honorary doctorate in Performing Arts.

Miller almost never transcribed recordings (something that jazz musicians are typically taught to do); he credited this with slowing his learning process, but also with allowing him to express himself more freely, as he reached his own understanding of the compositions he played.

Miller lived in Palmer Township, Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania from 1989. He was the Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University from 2005, and the Artist in Residence at Lafayette College in 2008. His only solo album, a 2000 concert recording entitled Solo, was released in 2010 and was well received by critics for the imagination and harmonic development in Miller’s playing.

In 2010 Miller had a minor stroke. After this, he took medicine, changed his diet and lost weight. In 2012 he performed as a piano duo with Kenny Barron, continuing an association that had begun some years earlier. Although he had appeared to reduced his touring and recording, Miller was admitted to Lehigh Valley Hospital, near Allentown, Pennsylvania, on May 24, 2013, and died there, as a result of another stroke, on May 29. He was survived by his wife, son, daughter, and grandson.

Personal life and personality

Miller married on August 14, 1982. He was quiet and gentle; “A modest man, with a self-deprecating sense of humour”. Miller described his own attitude towards music in a 2005 interview:

I worked hard to maintain a certain mental and emotional equilibrium. It’s mostly due to my faith in the Creator. I don’t put all my eggs in that basket of being a rich and famous jazz guy. That allows me a certain amount of freedom, because I don’t have to play music for money. I play music because I love it.

Playing style and influence

Miller had a strong reputation with fellow musicians. Pianist Geoffrey Keezer was convinced that he wanted to be a pianist after attending a performance by Miller in 1986. Vibraphonist Warren Wolf stated that Miller helped him early in his career, including by being a link to jazz history: “you’re getting that experience of playing with Art Blakey, that attitude of ‘Yes, it’s my band, but you have to give other people a chance to shine.'” Robert Glasper also cited Miller as an influence, and wrote and recorded “One for ‘Grew” as a tribute.

Ted Panken observed in 2004 that Miller “finds ways to conjure beauty from pentatonics and odd intervals, infusing his lines with church and blues strains and propelling them with a joyous, incessant beat.” Critic John Fordham commented that Miller’s “melodic fluency and percussive chordwork […] recalled Oscar Peterson […but] with glimpses of the harmonically freer methods of McCoy Tyner”, and that Miller was much more than the hard bop player that he was often stereotyped as being. Miller himself attributed the lack of critical attention he received in comparison with more conceptual players to his style: “Guys who do what I am doing are viewed as passé.” He also contrasted his own approach with that of performers who produced “interview music”: “something that’s obviously different, and you get the interviews and a certain amount of attention.”

Speaking in 2010, Miller commented on his approach to playing standards, which was more conservative than that of many others: “I believe in giving due respect to the melody, playing it as true as possible, […] a solo is a creative process that improves the melody.”

The obituary writer for Down Beat observed that “Miller could swing hard but maintained grace and precision with a touch and facility that influenced generations of musicians.” Ben Ratliff, writing for The New York Times, commented that, “As a composer, Mr. Miller is difficult to peg; like his piano playing, he’s a bit of everything.”

Discography

These lists exclude compilations.

As leader/co-leader

As sideman

An asterisk (*) indicates that it is year of release, not recording.