Lloyd Miller (musician)

Lloyd Miller (born 1938) is an American jazz musician, who is known for his research work on Persian music and Afghan music. He plays multiple instruments across numerous jazz, ethnic, and world music traditions.

Miller is a scholar of Persian music. He earned his doctorate in Middle East Studies and has published books on Persian and Afghan music, including Music and Song in Persia and Afghan Music and Dance. He lived in Iran for seven years and worked as an arts writer and public relations officer.

Miller is a native English speaker, fluent in Persian and French, and proficient in Swedish, German, and several other languages. He studied at the Sorbonne and the Langues Orientale in Paris, as well as in Geneva. In the 1950s and 1960s, Miller performed jazz with notable musicians such as Don Ellis and Eddie Harris. Miller was interested in Eastern culture and music. He also was the soloist in the music ensemble of Jef Gilson in Paris.

Miller returned to the U.S. in 1963 to study at BYU, where he organized Eastern and jazz music ensembles and won the composers' trophy at the 1967 Intercollegiate Jazz Festival. He earned a BA in Asian Studies and pursued an MA in Middle East Studies at the University of Utah, teaching classes in Persian, Afghan, and Far Eastern music from 1967 until the early 1980s, later adding jazz courses. 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, mastering Persian music under renowned masters. He later initiated music classes at BYU in 1996. Known as Kurosh Ali Khan, he hosted a popular 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, while Miller wrote Music and Song in Persia: The Art of Avaz. He is the grandson of attorney W. Lloyd Adams of Rexburg, Idaho.

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