Miller. Anestesia

Mulgrew Miller, a talented McCoy Tyner-influenced pianist, leads an all-star septet on much of this date. The main stars, however, are Miller's nine diverse originals which range from modal to Monkish. With tenor-saxophonist Joe Henderson appearing on five selections, trumpeter Eddie Henderson on six and altoist Kenny Garrett heard throughout the full CD, Miller has a perfect frontline to interpret his tricky but logical originals.

Canadian composer and multi-instrumentalist Rick Miller made his debut effort as a solo artist back in 1983 with the new age production Starsong, which shifted a highly respectable 30.000 units at the time. He would follow up this venture with Windhaven in 1987, and his efforts Interstellar Passage from 1998 and the EP No Passion, No Pain from 2009 would continue exploring similar musical territories. But after honing his craft working at Sound Design Studios in Toronto throughout the 80's and 90's, Miller wanted to have a go at his true musical love as well, atmospheric progressive rock inspired by artists such as Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues and Steve Hackett…

Like most people who didn't experience The Steve Miller Band at their hit-making peak, I discovered the group via their incredible 1974-1978 Greatest Hits collection, perhaps the greatest compilation of its kind. It was my freshman year of college, and the smooth sound of Miller's guitar joined The Who as the two pillars of my post-adolescent pantheon of rock. In a display of kismet, shortly after I learned of Miller's music, his band came to campus for a concert.