Lloyd Miller (musician)

Lloyd Miller (1938 – December 27, 2024) was an American jazz musician, who researched Persian music and Afghan music. He played multiple instruments across numerous jazz, ethnic, and world music traditions.

Miller was a scholar of Persian music. He earned his doctorate in Middle East Studies and published books on Persian and Afghan music, including Music and Song in Persia: The Art of Avaz and Afghan Music and Dance: Shared Arts of Persia's Past, Highlighting 1970s Heart. He lived in Iran for seven years, and worked as an arts writer and public relations officer.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Miller performed jazz with musicians such as Don Ellis and Eddie Harris. He also was the soloist in the music ensemble of Jef Gilson in Paris.

Returning to the U.S. in 1963 to study at Brigham Young University, Miller organized Eastern and jazz music ensembles and won the composer's trophy at the 1967 Intercollegiate Jazz Festival. He earned a BA in Asian Studies and pursued an MA in Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Utah. In 1969, he won the national Sounds of Young America composers contest for his piece "Yona."

Miller spent seven years in Iran on a Fulbright scholarship. Known as Kurosh Ali Khan, he hosted a television show in Iran during the 1970s and worked as a journalist for several Iranian publications. His mother, Maxine Adams Miller, authored Bright Blue Beads: An American Family In Persia. He is the grandson of attorney W. Lloyd Adams of Rexburg, Idaho.

Miller's recording titled Oriental Jazz, produced in the 1960s was re-released as a CD and features selections of jazz and oriental music blends. He also released seven other vinyl LPs during the 1960s and released over 30 CDs and DVDs of his own music, including music and dance featuring other known virtuoso artists.

Lloyd Miller died of a stroke on the morning of December 27, 2024, at the age of 86.