Jazz Articles about Doug Miller

Clairdee: A Love Letter To Lena

by Nicholas F. Mondello
April 23, 2020

Revered decades after her passing, Lena Horne has remained an icon in the realms of music, stage & screen, and civil rights activism. With A Love Letter to Lena, San Francisco-based vocalist Clairdee assumes the task of saluting Horne by way of selections from Billy Strayhorn and other great American composers. And the inclusion of narration and quotes from Horne adds a special perspective and further poignancy to this fine musical effort. “Old Devil Moon," originally recorded ...

Clairdee: A Love Letter To Lena

by Dan Bilawsky
April 22, 2020

A fixture on the Bay Area jazz scene, Clairdee has established herself as a self-assured singer and an artist who's never content in repeating an idea. Her first three albums move from the studio to the holidays to the stage, demonstrating a high level of comfort in disparate settings and seasons. This fourth project—a tribute to Lena Horne, realized after a decade of thought on the matter—will likely extend that reputation while marking her as a strong conceptualist.

New Stories: Speakin' Out

by Edward Blanco
April 14, 2020

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of a ground-breaking album in their catalog of jazz, Origin Records reissues Speakin' Out from the Grammy-nominated Seattle-based trio with guest Ernie Watts on saxophones. The trio consisting of pianist Marc Seales, bassist Doug Miller and drummer John Bishop, were instrumental in developing the label's sound but, it was their 2000 and third album as a group that caught fire with saxophonist giant Ernie Watts providing the fuel that propelled the Origin Record name to international ...

New Stories: Speakin' Out

by Jack Bowers
March 6, 2020

New Stories is a seasoned piano trio (and a very good one) rendered even more persuasive on Speakin' Out by the singular presence (on five of nine tracks) of renowned saxophone maestro Ernie Watts. The trio itself consists of pianist Marc Seales, bassist Doug Miller and drummer (and Origin Records founder) John Bishop. The wide-selling album, a centerpiece of Origin's catalog since its initial release in 2000, when New Stories was only two years old, has been re-released this year ...

Doug Miller: Regeneration

by John Barron
June 13, 2008

An active bassist/composer/educator from the Seattle, Washington area, Doug Miller has toured with top big band names like the Count Basie Orchestra, and the Duke Ellington Orchestra (under the direction of Mercer Ellington). Having provided a strong side-man presence on numerous releases for Origin Records, Miller gets the opportunity to step into the spotlight as leader with Regeneration, a unique representation of straight-ahead mainstream jazz.

The bulk of the disc is comprised of Miller's stripped-down original compositions performed ...

New Stories Trio: Speakin' Out

by Jason West
November 1, 2000

Does the Seattle jazz community-that nebulous amalgamation of big-eared musicians, students and listeners-realize the good fortune that we possess as friendly, backyard neighbors to John Bishop, Doug Miller and Marc Seales: the New Stories Trio? It's a question that is undoubtedly answered with countless nods in the affirmative from those of us who have heard the trio perform with local sax legend Don Lanphere, Grammy-nominated vocalist Mark Murphy, numerous Port Townsend and Earshot festival groups, and Ernie Watts—L.A. saxophone heavyweight ...