text: mulgrew miller mulgrew miller ( august 13 , 1955 – may 29 , 2013 ) was an american jazz pianist , composer , and educator . as a child he played in churches and was influenced on piano by ramsey lewis and then oscar peterson . aspects of their styles remained in his playing , but he added the greater harmonic freedom of mccoy tyner and others in developing as a hard bop player and then in creating his own style , which influenced others from the 1980s on . miller 's style evolved through playing with a series of major jazz figures . after leaving university he was pianist with the duke ellington orchestra for three years , then accompanied vocalist betty carter . three - year stints with trumpeter woody shaw and with drummer art blakey 's high profile jazz messengers followed , by the end of which miller had formed his own bands and begun recording under his own name . he was then part of drummer tony williams ' quintet from its foundation , while continuing to play and record with numerous other leaders , mostly in small groups . miller was director of jazz studies at william paterson university from 2005 , and continued to play and tour internationally with other high profile figures in the music until his death from a stroke at the age of 57 . 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 , miller 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 on the 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 . 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 , 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 , 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 university in 1975 , miller took lessons privately in boston with madame margaret , 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 . " 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 northern cold . he stayed on the west coast for a year , playing locally in clubs and a church . later life and career 1976 – 86 towards the end of 1976 miller was invited to substitute for the regular pianist in the duke ellington orchestra ( led by the late bandleader 's son , mercer ellington ) . miller had performed the same role for one weekend around a year earlier , and the new work was to be for only three weeks , but he ultimately toured with the orchestra for almost three years . his membership of the orchestra helped him , in the words of a piano magazine , to get " respect as a powerful , two - fisted pianist adept at delivering lyrical and gracefully introspective runs as well as dazzling and buoyant passages . " he left in january 1980 , 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 for art blakey 's jazz messengers by blakey members terence blanchard and donald harrison , and he joined the drummer 's band in 1983 . initially , he struggled to fit in with blakey dominating the rhythm section , but miller 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 he was allotted a solo piano spot , which miller used to play medleys . his presence in the jazz messengers cemented his reputation within jazz . his recording career as a leader began in 1985 , with keys to the city , the first of miller 's several recordings for landmark records . jon pareles ' review of a solo concert in 1986 noted 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 was pianist in drummer tony williams ' quintet from its foundation that year until it disbanded around 1993 . miller remained busy between tours with williams ' band , in part by touring with his own groups . the first of these was formed in 1987 and named wingspan , as , miller 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 . another band was known as trio transition , which contained bassist reggie workman and drummer freddie waits . miller also played on williams bandmate wallace roney 's first three recordings ( 1987 – 89 ) , and a large number of 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 , and the first of a series of releases with tenor saxophonist benny golson . miller and his family moved to palmer township , lehigh valley , pennsylvania in 1989 . in that year he joined three other pianists in recording a cd tribute to memphis 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 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 , tom harrell , lew , bobby watson , ray drummond , and carl allen . miller continued to accompany vocalists , including on recordings with dianne reeves and cassandra wilson . starting in 1993 , he also played and recorded with saxophonist joe lovano . 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 had turned 40 , miller concentrated on composing and playing his own music . he therefore reduced his recording and club appearances , as well as one - day associations . the stimulus for this change had built gradually from miller 's first studio recording in 1981 : " my recording activity increased and by the time that it got into 1986 – 87 i was on so many records it was unbelievable until eventually it became rather overwhelming and stressful , so i had to cut back . " he did continue to record , often with musicians he had established relationships with : in 1996 he reunited with williams to appear on what became the drummer 's final recording , young at heart ; further albums led by kenny garrett , nelson , reeves , and others were made in the period 1997 – 99 . in 1997 miller went on tour in japan with 100 golden fingers , a troupe of 10 pianists . he joined bassist niels - henning ørsted pedersen in 1999 to record duets based on 1940s 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 started to release recordings . a series of four concert recordings were released over the following years : live at the kennedy center vol . 1 and live at the kennedy center vol . 2 ( recorded in 2002 ) , with derrick hodge ( bass ) and rodney green ( drums ) ; and live at yoshi 's vol . 1 and live at yoshi 's vol . 2 ( recorded in 2003 ) , with hodge and karriem riggins ( drums ) . 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 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 , and was the artist in residence at lafayette college in 2008 , which was two years after it had awarded him an honorary doctorate in performing arts . miller 's 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 . also in 2010 , miller joined guitarist john scofield 's new band . 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 february 2012 he traveled to denmark to play with big band ; selections from one of the five concerts were released under miller 's co - leadership as grew 's tune . 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 , near allentown , pennsylvania , having suffered 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 . his last working trio consisted of ivan taylor on bass and green on drums . bassist christian mcbride commented on the loss to jazz on the day of miller 's death : " i sincerely hope every self - respecting jazz musician takes this day to reflect on all the music mulgrew left us . " personal life and personality miller was survived by his wife , son , daughter , and grandson . miller married on august 14 , 1982 . he 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 observed in 2004 that miller the pianist " finds ways to conjure beauty from and odd intervals , infusing his lines with church and blues strains and propelling them with a joyous , incessant beat . " john fordham commented that miller 's " melodic fluency and percussive [ ... ] 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 . 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 . " miller had a strong reputation with fellow musicians . pianist geoffrey was convinced that he wanted to be a pianist after attending a performance by miller in 1986 . 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 . 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 . " 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 as follows : " 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