An Interview with Dr. Lloyd Miller

While surfing the web for alternative Iranian music a while ago, I discovered a page which had a short article about the fusion of Jazz and Iranian music. In it, it mentioned Dr. Lloyd Miller, an American jazz musician who had done some pioneering work in this field in the 70's. I was extremely curious and searched further to see who this interesting, and (to-me) myesterious character is.

I found that he holds a PhD degree in Persian, and has lived in Iran for seven years during the seventies. Furthermore, I found that during his years in Iran, he hosted his own primetime jazz show on national TV. I couldn't believe that I was reading about this for the first time. How could such an interesting figure be out of the attention of the media for so many years? Specially someone who could write and speak perfect Farsi?

Eventually, I found his website with more interesting info and pictures, as well as clips of his Perisan jazz compositions, and more importantly, his email address. Within a few hours of sending the email, he replied (in Persian!) and kindly agreed to an interview.

What you are about to read is the result of this interesting and rather surprising email interview. Needless to say, the views expressed by Dr. Miller are not necessarily shared by this author or this weblog.

I have read some short biographies of yours on the net, none of them
talk about your childhood. I saw pictures of your parents in Iran, did you
ever use to live in Iran as a child?

I was never in Iran during my childhood but first went in 1957 for a year with my family then from about 1970 to 1977 I was there again.

Before going to Iran, you studied Asian studies in the US and enrolled in a
PhD program in Persian studies. what started your interest in Persian
studies?

When I was about 8 years old I visited a little town in southerin Califorina called Mecca. there I saw a stone at the side of the road written in Arabic. I told my parents I would speak and write that language someday and they thought I was crazy. Finally after months of my insisting, they hired a teacher to teach me a little Turkish.

After my first trip to Iran in the 50s, I studied Persian, Kurdish, Turkish, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi and a little Pashtu in Geneva, Paris and on my own before returing to Iran in 1970.

You must be one of a handful of non-Iranians with their own TV show in Iran! How did you come to start the show?

In Iran in the 70s I worked at the Iran-America Society programming concerts of jazz and Iranian music. We had Parisa, Heydari, Ismaili and Ba’dei for one concert and Tala’I when he was a high school prodigy and also various jazz combos I organized.

Then suddenly they released me from that job and employees of NIRT arranged a pilot program for me. Mrs. Qotbi liked the program so they set up 12 of the shows. They named the show Kurosh Ali Khan and friends (Korosh Ali Khan was a name my Iranian friends found for me at University of Geneva in the late 1950s). The show was broadcast weekly at prime time on the best day of the week. The show lasted several years and they arranged another show for me in English about Iranian music for the foreigners living in Iran.

Like most of Iran's population, I was born after the revolution. My only
insight into pre-revolutionary Iran is through my parent's and other
elders' (often nostalgic) accounts, and bits and pieces of pictures and
clips from those days. Seeing your pictures and reading about your time in Iran, helps me - and others of my generation - get a glimpse into a
relatively forgotten part of our modern history, if not our identity. Can
you please describe the general atmosphere, and lifestyle in Iran during
your stay there? What sort of treatment did you receive, as a celebrity?

In those days Iran was peaceful and people treated me very well. Only the traffic, housing and the Westernization was really horrible. I prayed in many mosques and often visited the holy shrines in Qom and Mashhad. Everyone both in government, in religion and also in the street, were very kind and hospitable.

have you ever gone back to Iran after the revolution?

I haven't visited Iran since the revolution.

What do you remember (or possibly miss) the most from Iran? If there were one reason for which you would go back to Iran, what would that be?

The quiet and silence of the villages and the fragrant gardens behind ancient walls and traditional instruments playing traditional modes with the beautiful singing of metaphysical vocalists like Parisa, and traditional music of various regions of Iran remain as very beautiful and valuable memories.

In recent years, many restrictions, including those on music, have been relaxed in Iran. Many new artists have emerged, working mostly in the pop and new age genres. Among them are many talented musicians. There have also been a few jazz performances by foreign bands. With your knowledge of the country and its people, do you consider going back to Iran at all? For the sake of performance if not for collaborating with other artists.

Yes, I would like to help contemporary Iranian music if there is any useful thing that could be extracted from this unworthy servant. The same way that at the Center for Preservation and Propagation of Iranian music they would carefully add a little to the Dastgahs, a system of demonstrating the beauty of Iranian traditional music can be found. But nothing from pop or rock or the horrid noise created by the Devil can be used. Old traditional Iranian music is itself the best thing that Iran has. Traditional music is the work of God and no unGodly human has the right to touch that music. An artist must be filled with the divine soul and spirit otherwise their work is worthless and and must quickly be thrown into a garbage bin. Perhaps with care, one could perform parts of the Dastgah (modal tradition) along with peaceful jazz in the style of Miles Davis and Bill Evans; but Iranian traditional music must not be tampered with, it must be played just like it is and was.

Your Persian name, Kurosh Ali Khan, is a rather interesting choice. How
did you come to choose this name?

At the University of Geneva in about 1958 my Iranian friends said I needed a Persian name. One said Cyrus was good because he was the greatest king of ancient Persia. Another said Ali is good because he was the greatest leader of the true Shia religion. I said then Kurosh Ali is fine and let's add Khan to the end out of respect for the Asiatic race.

I listened to some short clips of your Persian Jazz compositions. While at times the blend seemed quite seamless and magical (i.e. Oud Blues, Persian Bass Solo ) , at other times I felt like I am hearing two disparate sounds. As if the song is chronologically separated in two parts, one of which is mostly Persian classical music, and the other is western jazz, with not much overlap in between (i.e. Segah on Piano, Persian Jazz Blend). That could well be because the clips were short, and I am anxious to listen to the full pieces, but if you think that's a valid point, how do you explain that?

You'r right. In some of the tunes, only an Eastern instrument was used to play jazz, in some of the tunes only one section is Eastern and in some others a western instrument was used to play Iranian modal music or in that style. In Gol-e Gandom and Guzel Gozler it can be said that Eastern and Western music are together. But it is best that we find tunes, chords and rhythms in jazz which will go well with the Persian modes without either the Persian modes or jazz altering. But you must hear the whole recordings of the tunes to see what I mean. I have gathered all the tunes I have done over the years into a CD of about 80 minutes called Oriental Jazz.

Blending of Persian music and western jazz is, at least at the surface,
a seemingly odd if not impossible task. Can you explain what makes the
fusion feasible?

You know, if you just let Persian modal music remain itself and jazz remain itself and you allow them to travel together you will find a beneficial result. The history of jazz and the history of Eastern music were tied together. In Azerbaijan and Armenia they have the duduk or balaban which is like the saxophone of cool jazz. A book could be written about these kinds of things.

You play a plethora of different instruments, do you have a favorite or is
there one you feel a stronger connection with?

If you ask Abraham or Solomon which of all their wives they loved most what would be their answer? Each instrument has its own sound and its own feeling and all are appreciated.

Do follow the current Iranian music? If so, do you have a favorite?

Sorry to say I don't follow current Iranian music, if I did it would be with a sword or battle axe in my hand. I fought it for 7 years in Iran and till my death I will struggle against it.

Many musicians and artists left Iran at the onset of the revolutions. Nowadays, Los Angeles is seen as the hub of Iranian music outside Iran, so much so that the music coming out of LA is branded as 'Los Angelesi' music. Are you familiar with this music, and if so what do you think of it?

As a native of Glendale, now New Armenia, I am very familiar with California and the music scene from the 40s and 50s. I am not sure what Los Angeles music is but if is anything like the bad pop that was driven out of Iran, it must be pretty pathetic. I really hate to see Iranian, Afghan or any other rich traditional culture Californicated into junk art.

How do you see the current state of Jazz? I think in recent years there has been more interest from the younger crowd, and I often see people of my age at Jazz clubs. What do you credit that to?

Unfortunately jazz has been brought near death and this is the fault of that terrible poison rock which was invented by Satan to destroy mankind. If there are Iranian young people who like Miles Davis, Charley Parker, Bill Evans or Stan Getz, it would be unbelievable to me and if it is true my heart rejoices.

We must only look to God and receive inspiration from him so that all our work may be good. With divine revelation we should play music and reconstruct beautiful, placid and intelligent traditional dance so that with all our art we worship the one true God.