#MulgrewMiller - The Art of Solo Piano - I Love You

Published on Feb 4, 2010
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Mulgrew Miller is an American jazz pianist born in 1955 in Greenwood, Mississippi who performs in a number of jazz idioms

In a childhood filled with early musical experiences, mostly playing gospel music in his church and R&B and blues at dances. Mulgrew was constantly meddling in jazz piano, and established a trio in high school that would play cocktail parties. Miller admits that they didn't really know what they were doing and were merely "approaching jazz". Miller is said to have set his mind definitely to becoming a jazz pianist after seeing Oscar Peterson (a first for Mulgrew) on television. Much of Mulgrew's playing has the same technical prowess so often associated with Oscar Peterson.

He has released four albums to date with Derrick Hodge (bass) and Karriem Riggins (drums) (both on the label Max Jazz Records): Live At Yoshi's Vol. 1 (2004), Live At Yoshi's Vol. 2 (2005), Live At The Kennedy Center Vol. 1 (2006), and Live At The Kennedy Center Vol. 2 (2007).

On May 20, 2006, Miller was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Performing Arts at Lafayette College's 171st Commencement Exercises.

Miller currently resides in Easton, Pennsylvania. As of 2006 he is the Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University. He is the Artist in Residence at Lafayette College for 2008-2009.

#MulgrewMiller : “Living in the Shadows of Giants”

Friday, June 30, 2017
BY Steven Cerra

“Don’t cross a bridge to get home or to work:” I guess the expression contains more than a hint of caution and admonition, especially if you’ve lived some time in the San Francisco Bay area and seen the nightmarish traffic back-ups a closed bridge can cause on the local, television news.

Thankfully, I never experienced such a delay in all the years I lived and worked in San Francisco, 

But I sure caught a taste of what such an experience would be like as I was headed north back to the Oakland, CA airport to catch a return flight to my relocated home in southern California following some business appointments in the Silicon Valley.

A major accident on the Bay Bridge between San Francisco and Oakland had caused a traffic back-up so serious that it extended south on US 880 to about 10 miles below the airport.

The was no alternative and plenty of later flights so I just relaxed and turned on the FM-Jazz station while I waited things out in the rental car that was crawling along at death-defying speed of 3 MPH.

The radio broadcast that I tuned into was an interview with pianist Mulgrew Miller who was appearing through the upcoming weekend with his trio at Yoshi’s Jazz Club located on a portion of the waterfront which the City of Oakland had reclaimed from surplus shipping docks and refurbished into a lovely commercial-cum-residential area.

I knew of Mulgrew’s work through recordings he had made during his long association with drummer Tony Williams’ quintet in the 1980s and 1990s, but I had never heard him play in person.

He sounded very warm and cordial during the radio interview and I thought, “Well, at the rate things are going with the crawling traffic, maybe I’ll just book into a local hotel and catch one of Mulgrew’s sets at Yoshi’s.”

Of all the remarks Mulgrew made during the exchange with the interviewer, one stayed with me: “It’s tough to get any recognition as a Jazz musician today because we are living in the shadow of Giants.”

read more: http://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com.br/2017/06/mulgrew-miller-living-in-shadows-of.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+JazzProfiles+(Jazz+Profiles)

#MulgrewMiller

Happy Birthday to jazz pianist, composer & #musiceducator Mulgrew Miller, born #onthisday in Greenwood, Mississippi pic.twitter.com/Nv7GSdRabF

— JazzatLincolnCenter (@jazzdotorg) August 13, 2016

Joe Lovano - "Little Willie Leaps"

Published on Jul 4, 2012
Tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano performing Miles Davis' "Little Willie Leaps" with pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Lewis Nash.

Mulgrew Miller (1955-2013)

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

Mulgrew Miller—a lush and powerful jazz pianist who had the percussive feel of Oscar Peterson, the touch of Phineas Newborn, Jr. and the soul of Bobby Timmons—died yesterday after suffering a stroke. [Photo of Mulgrew Miller at home by Jimmy Katz for JazzTimes]

Here's Miller in video conversation with Bret Primack in 2010...

And here's Miller playing solo piano in 2010...
Used with permission by Marc Myers

Mulgrew Miller is an American jazz pianist born in 1955 in Greenwood....

Mulgrew Miller is an American jazz pianist born in 1955 in Greenwood, Mississippi who performs in a number of jazz idioms.

In a childhood filled with early musical experiences, mostly playing gospel music in his church and R&B and blues at dances. Mulgrew was constantly meddling in jazz piano, and established a trio in high school that would play cocktail parties. Miller admits that they didn't really know what they were doing and were merely "approaching jazz". Miller is said to have set his mind definitely to becoming a jazz pianist after seeing Oscar Peterson (a first for Mulgrew) on television. Much of Mulgrew's playing has the same technical prowess so often connected with Peterson. Currently, Mulgrew maintains a working trio with Ivan Taylor on bass, and Rodney Green on drums.

He has released four albums to date with Derrick Hodge (bass) and Karriem Riggins (drums) (both on the label Max Jazz Records):
Live At Yoshi's Vol. 1 (2004),
Live At Yoshi's Vol. 2 (2005),
Live At The Kennedy Center Vol. 1 (2006),
Live At The Kennedy Center Vol. 2 (2007).

On May 20, 2006, Miller was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Performing Arts at Lafayette College's 171st Commencement Exercises. Miller currently resides in Easton, Pennsylvania. As of 2006 he is the Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University. He is the Artist in Residence at Lafayette College for 2008-2009.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhzNcM-mnPU&feature=player_embedded#


"An excellent pianist who plays in a style influenced by McCoy Tyner, Mulgrew Miller has been quite consistent throughout his career. He was with Mercer Ellington's big band in the late '70s and had important stints with Betty Carter (1980), Woody Shaw (1981-1983), and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (1983-1986). For a long period, he was a member of the Tony Williams Quintet (1986-1994). In addition, Mulgrew Miller has led his own sessions for Landmark (starting in 1985) and Novus". by Scott Yanow

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Mulgrew Miller

Mulgrew Miller - I Hear A Rhapsody

This week, our video spotlight shines on pianist Mulgrew Miller, who will be back in St. Louis to perform Wednesday, September 23 through Saturday, September 26 at Jazz at the Bistro. The 54-year-old Miller is one of the most recorded jazz pianists of his generation, and will be familiar to many St. Louis listeners from his previous dates at the Bistro (as both sideman and leader) and through his affiliation with the locally based label MAXJAZZ.

Miller has released a total of five CDs on MAXJAZZ, the most recent being the second volume of Live at the Kennedy Center, which came out in 2007. His appearance here later this month will help celebrate ten years in business for MAXJAZZ, which has offices in Webster Groves. (More about that in a subsequent post...)

In the first video clip up above, Miller can be heard playing "I Hear A Rhapsody," accompanied by Ira Coleman on bass and Mark Johnson on drums. The second video, recorded at Duc des Lombards jazz club and restaurant in Paris, shows an excerpt from Miller's interpretation of "Relaxin' at Camarillo," performed with the help of bassist Ivan Taylor and drummer Rodney Green. Unfortunately, it cuts away as Miller seems poised to take his solo to the next level, but there's still some very fine playing up until that point.
http://stljazznotes.blogspot.com/2009/09/stljn-saturday-video-showcase-spotlight.html