Walter Miller at Joe (1989 Radio Broadcast)
Title
Walter Miller at Joe (1989 Radio Broadcast)
Description
1989 radio broadcast featuring pianist Walter Miller live at the Birmingham bar and bistro Joe (sometimes known as Joe Bar).
As a trumpeter, Miller performed for many years in the bands of Lionel Hampton, Ray Charles, and Sun Ra. Sun Ra in particular was a lifelong friend and collaborator: he and Miller had first worked together in Birmingham in the early 1940s, when Miller was in high school and Sun Ra—already established as a popular and inventive local bandleader—was still known as Sonny Blount. Miller would collaborate regularly with Sun Ra's Arkestra for decades to come, serving as a rare, direct link to the bandleader's early days in Birmingham.
After returning to his hometown, Miller would become house pianist for a Birmingham bar called, simply, Joe, opened in 1980 by Rowland and Joyce Scherman. Here, Miller appears on a 1989 broadcast of Birmingham radio station WVSU's Jazz Cafe.
Recording courtesy George Mostoller.
As a trumpeter, Miller performed for many years in the bands of Lionel Hampton, Ray Charles, and Sun Ra. Sun Ra in particular was a lifelong friend and collaborator: he and Miller had first worked together in Birmingham in the early 1940s, when Miller was in high school and Sun Ra—already established as a popular and inventive local bandleader—was still known as Sonny Blount. Miller would collaborate regularly with Sun Ra's Arkestra for decades to come, serving as a rare, direct link to the bandleader's early days in Birmingham.
After returning to his hometown, Miller would become house pianist for a Birmingham bar called, simply, Joe, opened in 1980 by Rowland and Joyce Scherman. Here, Miller appears on a 1989 broadcast of Birmingham radio station WVSU's Jazz Cafe.
Recording courtesy George Mostoller.
Duration
1:00:26
Collection
Citation
“Walter Miller at Joe (1989 Radio Broadcast),” Southern Music Research Center, accessed May 12, 2024, https://www.southernmusicresearch.org/items/show/1405.