Mulgrew Miller

Miller was born in Greenwood, Mississippi, He had three brothers and four sisters. Miller, however, played tunes on the piano from the age of six, playing by ear. His principal influence on piano at this stage was Ramsey Lewis. Miller later mentioned Art Tatum and Erroll Garner as piano influences during his teenage years. Miller reported years later 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, 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 players such as Wynton Kelly, Bud Powell, and McCoy Tyner. Still at Memphis State, Miller attended a jazz workshop, where one of the tutors was his future bandleader, Woody Shaw, who stated that they would meet again in two years. They did meet again two years later, and Shaw remembered the young pianist. After leaving Memphis State in 1975, Miller took lessons privately in Boston with Margaret Chaloff, who had taught many of the pianists that Miller admired. He later said: "I should have stayed with her longer, [...] but at that time I was so restless, constantly on the move." Miller played with saxophonists Ricky Ford and Bill Pierce in Boston. That winter, Miller was invited to Los Angeles by a school friend and decided to go, to escape the cold weather. He stayed on the West Coast for a year, playing locally in clubs and a church. ==Later life and career==

1976–86 in San Francisco, in 1983 Towards the end of 1976, Miller was invited to substitute for the regular pianist in the Duke Ellington Orchestra (by then led by Mercer Ellington; his father died in 1974). after being recruited by vocalist Betty Carter, with whom he toured for eight months that year. 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 by Terence Blanchard and Donald Harrison for Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and he joined the drummer's band in 1983. His presence in the Jazz Messengers cemented his reputation within jazz. Jon Pareles' review of a solo concert in 1986 observed that Miller's playing showed the influence of Powell on some numbers and Kelly on others, but that, overall, he was developing "his own, authoritative style". Later 1986–94 After leaving Blakey in 1986, Miller remained active between tours with Williams' band, in part by touring with his own groups. Miller also played on Williams bandmate Wallace Roney's first three recordings (1987–89), and many other albums recorded by other leaders in the late 1980s. These included an album with long-term collaborator Steve Nelson, a recording by trumpeter Donald Byrd, comeback albums from alto saxophonist Frank Morgan, The same year, he joined three other pianists in recording a CD tribute to Memphis-born pianist Phineas Newborn, Jr. This group, the Contemporary Piano Ensemble, performed intermittently until 1996, often playing together on four separate pianos. In 1990, Miller traveled to the Soviet Union to appear as pianist in Benny Golson's band at the first Moscow International Jazz Festival. In 1992, Miller also toured domestically and internationally with the New York Jazz Giants, a septet containing Jon Faddis, Tom Harrell, Lew Tabackin, Bobby Watson, Ray Drummond, and Carl Allen. Miller continued to accompany vocalists, including on recordings with Dianne Reeves and Cassandra Wilson. The influence of Williams continued into Miller's own projects, including their compositions and arrangements: The Guardian reviewer of Miller's 1992 Hand in Hand, his first for Novus Records, 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." 1995–2013 For several years after he turned 40, Miller concentrated on composing and playing his own music. further albums led by Kenny Garrett, Nelson, Reeves, and others were made in the period 1997–99. In 1997, Miller toured Japan with 100 Golden Fingers, a troupe of 10 pianists. He joined bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen in 1999 to record The Duets an album based on 1940s performances by Duke Ellington and Jimmy Blanton. In 2002, Miller's discography as leader began to expand again, as Maxjazz started to release recordings. The trio occasionally toured internationally for the next decade. In 2003, Miller was commissioned to write a score for the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company; after writing The Clearing in the Woods and having it choreographed by Ronald K. Brown, Miller and his band played the piece for performances by the company. In the mid-2000s, Miller joined bassist Dave Holland's band, changing it from a quintet to a sextet, and adding gospel and soul elements to the group's sound. Around this time, Miller had two regular bands of his own: a piano trio, and a quintet featuring saxophone and vibraphone. He also became heavily involved in music education: Miller was the Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University from 2005, which was two years after it had awarded him an honorary doctorate in Performing Arts. That year, Miller had a minor stroke. After this, he took medicine, changed his diet and lost weight; he also reduced his touring and recording. In autumn 2012, he performed as a piano duo with Kenny Barron, continuing an association that had begun some years earlier. In the winter of that year he toured Europe as part of a quintet led by reeds players Yusef Lateef and Archie Shepp. On May 24, 2013, Miller was admitted to Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest in Allentown, Pennsylvania after suffering another stroke. He died there on May 29. Miller made more than 15 albums under his own name during his career, and appeared on more than 400 for other leaders. ==Personality==

Miller was quiet and gentle, and was "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. ==Style and influence==

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." Critic Ted Panken observed in 2004 that Miller the pianist "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". John Fordham in The Guardian 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 had a strong reputation with fellow musicians. Robert Glasper also cited Miller as an influence, He almost never transcribed recordings (something that jazz musicians are typically taught to do); Miller 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 explained the lack of critical attention he received, saying, "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". ==Discography==