Dreamer with a Penny

Mark Miller was raised on a farm in Madison County, Iowa, where there are, oddly, no jazz clubs. He began singing professionally in San Francisco, with the Gilbert and Sullivan Troupe, the Lamplighters. Miller moved south to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, and sometime in between dinner theatre and summer stock gigs, fell in love with jazz. He studied music harmony and theory at Los Angeles City College, where he was awarded a full scholarship by drummer Dave Alpert. Performing in an Honors Concert at LACC, Miller caught the eye of the late Teri Merrill-Aarons, founder of the Los Angeles Jazz Society, who began promoting him and booking him in the better jazz venues. It was during this time that he met the legendary Page Cavanaugh, who is featured on 'Dreamer With A Penny'. Miller began booking, promoting, and making guest appearances with The Page Cavanaugh Trio in Los Angeles and Palm Springs. He also worked frequently with Gildo Mahones, Joyce Collins, and Jane Getz. In his first national review, JazzTimes Magazine called his work, 'masterpieces of interpretation'. Music Connection Magazine called him '..a superior vocalist, one of LA's finest'. Miller has studied keyboards for 8 years, first with Jane Getz, then Joyce Collins. He currently books and promotes the popular Sunday Evening Jazz Series at Chaya Brasserie, in Beverly Hills, where he also appears with his own trio on a regular basis. This is his first album, released under his own label 'Sliding Glass Door Productions'.