Daily Inspiration: Meet Mark Miller

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Miller. 

Hi Mark, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
Hi… I’m a musician (flute and saxophone) and a retired music professor. My mother was a classical flutist, so music was always present while I was growing up. I had a sense that music would be my life path from a very early age. When I was eight years old, I played trumpet in the school band. I was passionate about the music; so passionate that on the day of our first big concert, I practiced for hours after school. This was not a good idea, especially for a brass player. When the conductor cued us in that evening, my lips were so exhausted that I couldn’t play a note. I was mortified, but I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. I knew what I wanted to do. 

Didn’t everyone want to be a musician? By middle school, I recruited a couple of friends into my garage band. We played Beatles and Rolling Stones covers. We learned “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” and I borrowed my mother’s flute to play the ending melody. Years of classical flute lessons followed. In high school, I joined the choir, almost by accident, when the business law and typing classes I preferred were full. Instead, I fell in love with singing. A beloved band director loaned me two jazz albums: Take Five, by Dave Brubeck, and This is Our Music, by the avant-garde saxophonist Ornette Coleman. What is this? Someone told me that since I already played the flute, it would be easy for me to pick up the saxophone- it wasn’t- but jazz saxophone became the center of my life. 

In the 1970s, colleges and universities offered very little jazz training, and the saxophone wasn’t considered a legitimate major. The only way to learn jazz was by listening, practicing, and performing. So, I dropped out of college and I learned to play. 

Love of music and love for my family led me to teaching, which allowed me to escape the less-than-healthy lifestyle of a working musician. After years of club dates, casuals, and tours, I settled in Boulder and joined the faculty of Naropa University, a leader in the international mindfulness movement. At Naropa, I learned about meditation and developed an interest in the interconnections of mindfulness/awareness practice and creativity. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Of course, there were obstacles, some internal, some external. Like other people, I was prone to insecurity, self-judgment, and over-thinking. Jazz is very complex and I tied myself in knots of music theory until I learned how to relax, trust my rhythmic body and my imagination, and give myself to the flow of improvisation. 

The external challenges of being an artist of any kind are significant. We live in a society that values the arts only when they’re monetized. If you’re not making money doing it, does it really have any value? Does it even exist? As parents, we’re delighted when our kids are painting and play-acting, but after a certain age, we expect them to lay down their “toys” and start thinking about jobs, careers, and money. But financial success is not the only motivation for a life. At least, it wasn’t for me. 

To support my family, I had to be flexible and not overly idealistic about my identity as an artist. I discovered various ways to be of service. I found a career in teaching, which I loved. I played all kinds of music: a national tour opening for Jackson Browne, a Grammy nomination with the new age pianist Peter Kater, an international tour with pianist Art Lande, and straight-ahead jazz with some of Denver’s top jazz musicians. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m an improviser, a jazz saxophone, and flute player. I like different kinds of jazz—Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, John Coltrane—but I prefer open improvisation, what some people call “free jazz,” music that has no prearranged form or content. I prefer a blank canvas. I like my music empty of expectation, but full of possibility. 

Improvisation is a spiritual practice that requires absolute attention to the present moment, a clear mind, and a willingness to share our heart’s desire. In improvisation, all of our personal experience is revealed: our emotions, sense perceptions, intellect, and imagination. Improvisors follow a path of artistic curiosity and generosity. What we experience in the music, we share openly with our fellow musicians and our audience. The Zen teacher angel Kyodo williams says that spiritual practice is always about love and liberation. Improvisation is a form of liberation when we play what we love and love what we play. 

My Naropa colleague, the painter Joan Anderson, says that “Art is always about devotion to the unknown.” Through this devotion, through musical inquiry and exploration, we learn a little more about what it means to be human, especially in relationship with others who are pursuing this same devotional path. The music I play now has no stylistic constraints. It isn’t pop or jazz or new age. The exploration is wide open, broad, and deep. It is (perhaps) more like abstract painting than it is about a particular style or genre of music. All of the elements of music are present- rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, and form- but these elements are reduced to their essences. I find this music deeply satisfying, but we ask a lot of our listeners. Some find it challenging because it’s unfamiliar. Others find the music transporting for the same reason. 

In addition to recording, performing, and teaching, I published a book in 2020 titled Being Music: The Art of Open Improvisation (University Professors Press) co-written with Art Lande. There are lots of books about jazz. Most address the theoretical and technical aspects of jazz performance. Our book is a detailed examination of creativity as a personal and collaborative practice rooted in awareness. 

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I spent much of my childhood on or near the ocean, San Francisco Bay, and the San Joaquin River. I loved sailing and swimming. As I entered high school, I learned to love reading and learning (along with playing music). My maternal grandfather and my uncle were college professors and my paternal grandfather was a career military officer. They were opposed in their politics, but they were never disrespectful. I was fascinated by their lively discussions, their equanimity, and their sense of humor. I wanted to emulate them. 

Pricing:

• Book price: Being Music: The Art of Open Improvisation: $24.95 from University Professors Press

Contact Info:

• Email: markm@naropa.edu
• Website: markmillermusic.net
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=540839294
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/search?q=The%20Nalanda%20Ensemble

Image Credits:
Jack Sasson
David Silver