Keys to the City

by Scott YanowPianist Mulgrew Miller's debut as a leader found his McCoy Tyner-inspired modal style already fully formed. At the time, he was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and was starting to become well-known in the jazz world. Teamed with bassist Ira Coleman and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith, Miller performs four originals, Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge," "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye," "Milestones" and an unaccompanied rendition of Duke Ellington's "Warm Valley." A very consistent improviser, all of Mulgrew Miller's are well worth acquiring, including this maiden effort.