Although he is rarely listed as one of the top prebop tenor-saxophonists along with Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Ben Webster, and Bud Freeman, Eddie Miller (1911-91) deserves to be ranked at that high level. While he had a tone similar to Freeman’s (they often could be mistaken for each other), Miller did not play the quirky phrases that Freeman often put in his solos and he had a smoother and generally warmer tone.
Most famous for his association with the Bob Crosby Orchestra during 1934-42, taking tenor or clarinet solos on nearly all of the best recordings by the orchestra and Crosby’s Bobcats, Miller also led his own worthy if short-lived big band, worked on the staff of 20th Century Fox for nine years (playing on many soundtracks), recorded numerous sessions for the Capitol label in different settings, was part of a variety of Dixieland and swing recording bands, participated in many Bob Crosby reunions, and worked in later years in New Orleans with Pete Fountain (who he influenced on both tenor and clarinet). Always reliable and a class act, Miller was an asset on hundreds of record dates during 1930-87.
