Pianist Steve Miller (1943-1998) formed his trio in the mid-eighties after a lengthy hiatus for technique re-evaluation. With young bassist Tony Moore and AMM drummer Eddie Prevost, Steve was now able to improvise freely sans traces of his deep roots in blues and boogie. With time spent in Delivery and Caravan well behind him, Steve's new path lead to a weekly series of concerts billed as Meetings with Remarkable Saxophonists.
At London's Bull & Gate, the diverse talents of Lol Coxhill, Harrison Smith, Elton Dean (1945-2006) and Bobby Wellins rose to meet the spontaneous challenge of improvised music-making, with all performances professionally recorded on high-speed tape. The special success, in our opinion, was the splendid meeting of altoist Elton Dean and the Steve Miller Trio.
Two extended sets of continuous collective improvisation, strongly rooted in the powerful modern jazz aesthetic, comprise this nearly hour long CD. With rare concert photos and notes from Steve complimenting this important document, The Steve Miller Trio Meets Elton Dean is indeed a musical meeting to be treasured.
Steve Miller: piano
Elton Dean: saxello, alto sax
Tony Moore: bass
Eddie Prevost: drums
Pip Pyle: drums (track 3)
'Here's another exercise in musical archaeology from Reel and it is worthy of loud and prolonged applause. It goes to show how arbitrary the business of capturing 'the music' can be, while in this case listeners can be eternally grateful that it was.'
Nic Jones ~ All About Jazz
