Harry Miller
b. 21 April 1941, Johannesburg, South Africa, d. 16 December 1983. A highly impressive and emotional bass player, Miller played R&B (with Manfred Mann) in South Africa. He moved to the UK in 1961, and then worked in bands on transatlantic liners, so that he heard New York jazz at first hand. Settling back in London, he made a reputation playing with John Surman, Keith Tippett (Ovary Lodge and Centipede), Dudu Pukwana (Spear), Elton Dean (Ninesense and Just Us), Stan Tracey (Tentacles and the Octet), Alan Skidmore (part of the quintet that won the 1969 Press prize at Montreux), Louis Moholo, Kenneth Terroade, Chris McGregor, Mike Westbrook and Mike Osborne, forming, with Louis Moholo, the superb Mike Osborne Trio for several years. He also worked in a trio with Moholo and Peter Brötzmann. He also led bands of his own, notably the ferocious and all-star Isipingo, and the Quartette A Tête, which he co-founded with Tippet, Radu Malfatti and Paul Lytton. He co-founded the Lambeth New Music Society and Ogun records, both of which showcased many of the best UK-based musicians. He also ran regular gigs through his Grass Roots agency. He died as a result of a road-accident in 1983. His widow, Hazel, continues to make an important contribution to the scene through Ogun, and by the intermittent, tenacious organisation of benefits and other gigs.