Pianist Mulgrew Miller joins Juilliard Jazz Ensembles for "Blues in the Church" on Wednesday, October 1 at 8 PM in Paul Hall

Concert opens Juilliard Jazz 2008-09 Season

Pianist Mulgrew Miller joins Juilliard Jazz Ensembles for their opening concert on Wednesday, October 1 at 8 PM in Paul Hall entitled “Blues in the Church," an evening inspired by music Mulgrew Miller heard in his Mississippi church while growing up. The program features Juilliard Jazz students Chris Burbank and Randall Haywood, trumpets; Will Reardon Anderson, alto saxophone; Peter Reardon Anderson and Jeremy Viner, tenor saxophones; James Burton and Javier Nero, trombones; Jonathan Batiste and Josh Richman, pianos; Philip Kuehn and Paul Sikivie, basses; and Ryan Hayden and Aaron Kimmel, drums.

Standby tickets are available for this FREE performance ½ hour before concert time. The Juilliard Box Office is located in the newly-renovated lobby of Juilliard at 155 West 65th Street. For further information, call the Juilliard Box Office at (212) 769-7406 or go to www.juilliard.edu.

In conceiving the program, Mr. Miller writes: “I started playing in church by ear at age eight. My family belonged to the Methodist Church. I knew many of the hymns by ear before taking piano lessons. While growing up, I heard the many styles of religious music as I was required to play in a variety of denominational settings. I heard piano styles that sounded like stride, boogie, even accomplished classically-trained keyboardists. One thread that seemed to run through these styles was the inflection of the blues. In fact, the blues were a big part of the total musical fabric in the Mississippi Delta.”

Mr. Miller continued: “To this day, I remain a big lover of hymns. Their melodies are memorable and when sung or played in the African-American folk feeling we call the blues, they seem to seep into the depths of one’s soul. The blues as a form is an American invention. But the blues as a feeling comes from Africa. I’ve heard it in archival recordings of tribal rituals and chants. I’ve long disagreed with the long held belief that the blues were simply about suffering, being ‘down and out.’ The blues is about surviving suffering: longing, that chronic, insatiable and intrinsic longing of the soul for its Maker. Somehow, love is in the midst of it. The marriage of religious music to the blues has made for an expression of powerful cultural significance.” 

Pianist Mulgrew Miller was born in 1955 in Greenwood, Mississippi. He played country, gospel, R&B for dance bands and the blues until he saw the Oscar Peterson Trio perform on television at age 15. Although he also studied classical piano and formed a trio while in high school, he immediately dedicated himself to becoming a jazz musician. He studied at Memphis State University with Donald Brown and James Williams, pianists who would later work with him in the late 1980s/early 1990s as part of the Contemporary Piano Ensemble, along with Geoff Keezer and Harold Mabern, dedicated to the music of Memphis’ native son, Phineas Newborn. One of Mr. Miller’s earliest jobs was as a pianist for the Mercer Ellington Orchestra. Mr. Miller moved to New York to perform with vocalist Betty Carter.  
      
Following Mr. Miller’s tenure with Betty Carter, he performed with Woody Shaw, Johnny Griffin, Art Blakey, and with Tony Williams. He was a frequent collaborator with saxophonist Joe Lovano in the late 1980s, turning his priorities to his own trio and other ensembles in the 1990s. He has performed with Diane Reeves, Rene Marie, Steve Turre, Kenny Garrett, and Gary Burton. He also collaborated with the late Danish jazz bassist Nils-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on a recording and a series of performances in tribute to the great piano/bass duos of Duke Ellington and Jimmy Blanton. Mr. Miller has worked on nearly 400 recordings and moves easily from jazz standards to Brazilian to bebop to his own compositions. He is now involved with his quintet, Wingspan, and his current trio, featuring bassist and Juilliard Jazz alumnus Ivan Taylor, and drummer Rodney Green.

The next Juilliard Jazz concert features the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra performing The Music of Andrew Hill, conducted by Ted Nash, on Thursday, October 16 at 8 PM in The Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Juilliard Jazz Ensembles return on Monday, November 3 at 8 PM in Paul Hall and features Juilliard Jazz students in the Artist Diploma program. FREE tickets to concerts in The Peter Jay Sharp Theater and limited FREE tickets for Paul Hall concert are available at the Juilliard Box Office.