Mike Miller (born May 8, 1953) is an American rock and jazz guitarist.
He has worked with
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", " 500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and ...
,
Bette Midler
Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...
,
Yellowjackets
A yellowjacket is a black-and-yellow vespid wasp.
Yellowjacket(s) or Yellow Jacket(s) may also refer to:
Places
* Yellow Jacket, Colorado, an unincorporated town
* Yellow Jacket, Florida, an unincorporated area in Dixie County, Florida
Arts, e ...
,
Brand X
Brand X were a jazz fusion band formed in London in 1974. They were active until 1980, followed by a reformation between 1992 and 1999, and were active following a 2016 reunion until 2021. Members have included John Goodsall (guitar), Percy J ...
,
Burton Cummings
Burton Lorne Cummings (born December 31, 1947) is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for leading The Guess Who during that band's most successful period from 1965 to 1975, and for a lengthy solo career.
Cummings has ...
,
Vinnie Colaiuta
Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Colai ...
,
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
,
Gino Vannelli
Gino Vannelli (born June 16, 1952) is a Canadian rock singer and songwriter who had several hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s. His best-known singles include "People Gotta Move" (1974), "I Just Wanna Stop" (1978), " Living Inside Myself" (1981) a ...
, and
Vital Information
Steve Smith and Vital Information is an American jazz fusion group led by drummer Steve Smith.
The first line-up of Vital Information — Steve Smith (drums), Tim Landers (bass), and Dave Wilczewski (sax) — met in 1971 during their high scho ...
.
Early life
Miller was born into a musical family in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...
. He was the third of four bass-playing brothers, performing with his father's jazz band at the age of twelve and in garage bands in his teens. He played bass in the Sioux Falls Symphony.
Career
In 1972, Miller moved to
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
, where he played with
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist.
Early life
Larry Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas, United States. He never knew his biological father, a musician. He w ...
,
Robben Ford
Robben Lee Ford (born December 16, 1951) is an American blues, jazz, and rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Larry Carlton, Rick Springfield ...
,
Bill Frisell
William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts ...
, Bruce Fowler, Tom Fowler, and Steve Fowler. He recorded the album ''Fly On'' with the band
Air Pocket.
He moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
in 1975.
In California, he worked with
Max Bennett,
Brand X
Brand X were a jazz fusion band formed in London in 1974. They were active until 1980, followed by a reformation between 1992 and 1999, and were active following a 2016 reunion until 2021. Members have included John Goodsall (guitar), Percy J ...
,
Bobby Caldwell
Robert Hunter Caldwell (born August 15, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He released several albums spanning R&B, soul, jazz and adult contemporary. He is known for his soulful and versatile vocals. Caldwell released the ...
,
Alphonso Johnson
Alphonso Johnson (born February 2, 1951) is an American jazz bassist active since the early 1970s. Johnson was a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report from 1973 to 1975, and has performed and recorded with numerous high-profile rock and ...
,
Bennie Maupin
Bennie Maupin (born August 29, 1940) is an American jazz multireedist who performs on various saxophones, flute, and bass clarinet.
Maupin was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. He is known for his participation in Herbie Hancock's Mwandi ...
,
Airto Moreira
Airto Guimorvan Moreira (born August 5, 1941) is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. He is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. Coming to prominence in the late 1960s as a member of the ...
,
Shawn Phillips
Shawn Phillips (born February 3, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, primarily influential in the 1960s and 1970s. His work is rooted in folk rock but straddles other genres, including jazz fusion and funk. Phillips has reco ...
, and
Tom Scott.
In 1981, Miller began eleven years of working with pop singer
Gino Vannelli
Gino Vannelli (born June 16, 1952) is a Canadian rock singer and songwriter who had several hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s. His best-known singles include "People Gotta Move" (1974), "I Just Wanna Stop" (1978), " Living Inside Myself" (1981) a ...
, touring and recording five albums. In 1983 he wrote "Elamar" for the
Yellowjackets
A yellowjacket is a black-and-yellow vespid wasp.
Yellowjacket(s) or Yellow Jacket(s) may also refer to:
Places
* Yellow Jacket, Colorado, an unincorporated town
* Yellow Jacket, Florida, an unincorporated area in Dixie County, Florida
Arts, e ...
album ''Mirage a Trois''. Three years later he started a trio called The Outsidemen, releasing the live album ''Band Overboard'' (1996)
In 1993, Miller joined Chick Corea for the album ''Elektric Band II: Paint the World'' (1993).
In 1990s Miller performed the music of
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...
as a member of Banned from Utopia with the
Seattle Symphony
The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera.
History
Beginnings
The orchestra ...
, the
Portland Symphony, and the
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisra'elit'') is an Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert venue ...
. With the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works.
The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...
he recorded a guitar concerto by
Joseph Curiale and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group he was a soloist alongside
Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead.
Early life and education
Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the drum ...
for the album ''Blood on the Floor'' by
Mark-Anthony Turnage
Mark-Anthony Turnage Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 10 June 1960) is a British composer of classical music.
Biography
Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex. He began composing at age nine and at fourteen began studying a ...
.
At the end of the 1990s, he was involved in scoring
Jessica Yu
Jessica Lingmin Yu (born February 14, 1966) is an American film director, writer, producer, and editor. She has directed documentary films, dramatic films, and television shows.
Yu won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject in ...
's documentaries ''Breathing Lessons'' and ''The Living Museum''. He toured with
Bette Midler
Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...
and appeared on her album ''Bette''. He also worked with film composer
Mark Mothersbaugh
Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 2 ...
on ''
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle'' (2000) and ''
The Royal Tenenbaums
''The Royal Tenenbaums'' is a 2001 American comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson and co-written with Owen Wilson. It stars Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, and Owen W ...
'' (2001).
Marsis Jazz released his first solo album, ''Save the Moon'', in 2001.
He was a touring guitarist with
Boz Scaggs
William Royce "Boz" Scaggs (born June 8, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. An early bandmate of Steve Miller in The Ardells and the Steve Miller Band, he began his solo career in 1969, though he lacked a major hit until h ...
in 2014 and has worked with
Brandon Fields
Brandon David Fields (born May 21, 1984) is a former American football punter who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Michigan State University, and earned consensus All-American honors. He ...
,
Mitchel Forman
Mitchel Forman (born January 24, 1956) is a jazz and fusion keyboard player.
Biography and music career
Mitchel Forman began studying classical piano at the age of seven. At 17 he entered the Manhattan School of Music (MSM) for three years of st ...
,
Scott Kinsey
Scott Kinsey is a keyboardist and member of the band Tribal Tech. He is a 1991 graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Career
In addition to playing in Tribal Tech with Scott Henderson and Gary Willis, Kinsey has worked with phil ...
,
Otmaro Ruíz
Otmaro Ruíz (born June 27, 1964, in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan pianist, keyboardist, composer, arranger and educator. Son of Oscar Ruiz Beluche and Omaira Prado Hurtado, both medical doctors. He has a sister named Orlena, also a musicia ...
,
and
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album ''All Hail the Que ...
.
In the early-2000s, Miller played custom-made instruments, some with
Seymour Duncan
Seymour Duncan is an American company best known for manufacturing guitar and bass pickups. They also manufacture effects pedals which are designed and assembled in America. Guitarist and luthier Seymour W. Duncan and Cathy Carter Duncan foun ...
pickups, as well as a
Martin D-28
The Martin D-28 is a dreadnought-style acoustic guitar made by C. F. Martin & Company of Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
History
This guitar is a dreadnought design, a naval term adopted and used by many to describe its larger body dimensions, hence t ...
. He used effects made by Danish company Emma and by
Line 6.
[Ayers, Don (12-17-2007) " "An Interview with Guitarist Mike Miller". All About Jazz retrieved 10-07-2010]
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Mike
American jazz guitarists
Jazz fusion guitarists
1953 births
Living people
20th-century American guitarists
Chick Corea Elektric Band members
Air Pocket (band) members
Jazz musicians from South Dakota