Lloyd Miller, A Lifetime in Oriental Jazz

When it comes to unknown geniuses, Dr. Lloyd Miller ranks high on the list. Born in California, he's not only a virtuoso jazz pianist and clarinettist, but also a leading authority on Iranian music — he spent several years living there, even presenting a weekly TV programme in Tehran.

This eye-opening trawl through his little-known back catalogue shows just how he's pioneered musical dialogues between cultures; not just Western and Iranian, but also Indian and Vietnamese. The true key lies in the three versions here of "Gol-E Gandom," which offers an unlikely mix of an Iranian folk melody with be-bop. The first, 1967 take, simply uses a santur (Persian hammered dulcimer) introduction to a trio piece. The second, 20 years later is a much more developed affair for santur, oud, darbuka and trio, the instruments bouncing lightly off each other, all the more remarkable because it's Miller playing them all. But the third time— from 2005 — really is the charm, slower, more meditative, opening with a piano solo imitating the santur before drawing in the other instruments, turning that dialogue into a deep, satisfying conversation that gives both sides plenty of time to speak over its eight minutes. It becomes not quite jazz, not quite Iranian, but something fresh and vibrant.

The two different takes of "Gozel Guzler" are just as illuminating, although more puzzling, with the first showcasing Miller's very Middle Eastern clarinet work in front of a big band, the second featuring a small bop group that swings like crazy, with Miller veering between Persia and Benny Goodman, moods changing like the wind (and he even throws in an oud solo for good measure). Elsewhere, there's a strange balafon (wooden xylophone) solo on "Bizz-aire" that's a twisted nod to Monk, and "Indo-European Improvisations" is an ambitious attempt — not always successful — to meld jazz with Indian music, although the two more tiptoe around each other than dance dreamily together. But even when something doesn't work, it's a brave, noble failure; Miller was attempting these fusions long before others had thought of them, he was out there on his own, making his vision real. For that, as well as his own superb playing, he deserves not just respect, but to be far more widely known.