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“Passionate and creative, melodic yet exploratory” -Sharonne Cohen, Downbeat Magazine
Joel Miller is an award-winning saxophonist and composer based in Fredericton, New Brunswick. His compositions, improvisations, albums, and shows communicate joy, celebration, humour, and curiosity about our amazing planet.
Joel grew up with a musical family. He got his passion for jazz music from his mother and her record collection, but his bass-playing brother, Andrew, suggested the saxophone at the dinner table one evening. Andrew said to a ten-year old Joel, “You know, the instrument that Zoot on the Muppet Show plays”.
He took up saxophone at age ten, and as a teenager studied with maritime-raised Jazz legend Don Palmer. This launched him off to study Jazz performance at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec where he lived until 2020. His career as a bandleader took off in 1997 when he showcased his debut CD, Find A Way, at the Montreal Jazz Festival and won the DuMaurierGrand Prix de Jazz.
Miller has performed with pianists Geoffrey Keezer (heard on his 2012 Origin album Swim), Henry Hey & Jean-Michel Pilc; drummers Matt Wilson, Bob Moses & Brian Blade; and guitarist Ben Monder and Kurt Rosenwinkel (heard on 2005’s Mandala, on Effendi), Tuco Bouzi et le Dixie Band, Joé Armando y su groupo picante, Projecto Iré, Roberto Lopez, Sachabuché, Symphony New Brunswick, Michael Bublé and the Glen Miller Orchestra.
His dedication has been recognized with a long list of honours, including a Juno award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album (Swim) and ECMA awards for his albums Swim (2012 Origin Records), Dream Cassette (2016 Origin Records) and UNSTOPPABLE (2019 Multiple Chord Music).