After Phil’s death on 18th October 2017 the Keeper of the Archives at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire expressed an interest in archiving what he called “The Phil Miller Collection” making Phil the Archive’s third Jazz Composer in the Conservatoire’s collection. The Collection would comprise all his recorded work on tapes, vinyl, CDs, manuscripts, band parts and all documents related to his career.
Phil’s work was known to the Conservatoire through the workshops he had conducted in the Jazz Department, using his compositions, These workshops had come about through Fred Thelonius Baker, one of the lecturers at the Conservatoire who was also the bass player in Phil’s band In Cahoots whose CDs are still available via Discogs.
I was so pleased with the interest the Conservatoire showed in preserving Phil’s music that I decided to make an endowment to the Conservatoire of the money that Phil had left me in his will which was mainly the proceeds from selling his parent’s house after they had died. The interest from this endowment was to be paid into the Phil Miller Fund to be used to keep Phil’s music alive.
Fred and I thought of several ways to do this and initially tried to use it for a guitar prize. Covid 19 interfered with this and it proved difficult for Fred to organise when he took on the role of bass player for the jazz/rock band Soft Machine.
Members of In Cahoots who had previously been members of Soft Machine were Hugh Hopper and Elton Dean. Robert Wyatt and Phil played together in Matching Mole after Robert quit Soft Machine. Leo Travis shared the stage with In Cahoots at the Mean Fiddler gig, so there are strong connections between the two bands.
Last year Fred And I initiated another of our ideas: a student band to play the music of Phil Miller. The Phil Miller Legacy Band was formed and had its debut performance in the East Side Jazz Club.
We were so excited with their performance that, last year we had a big meeting at the Conservatoire and decided that from now on we would stop having a guitar Prize and concentrate solely on the Legecy band.
The lineup for the band will change over time as some students finish their courses and new comers will take their places. It will be great to have them learning and performing Phil’s compositions. When Phil formed his band In Cahoots in 1983 the publicity that went out stated:
“In Cahoots play the music of Phil Miller”. The Phil Miller Legacy Band will keep his music alive in the same way.
We Are excited to announce that on Friday April 10th this year SOFT MACHINE will play a concert in the Bradshaw Hall, Birmingham Conservatoire supported by the Phil Miller Legacy Band playing a selection of Phil’s music. Fred Thelonius Baker will be playing in both bands.
HERM
This SOFT MACHINE GIG is part of their 2026 tour, following the release of their new single “Green Books” and the upcoming album “Thirteen”. The venue is located at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, part of Birmingham City University.
Great Post. And what a generous way to keep Phil’s music both ‘live’ and ‘alive’. Just a pity I live at the wrong end of the country.
You may want to fix the typo – it’s Theo Travis, NOT Leo… ciao!
Hello , can’t wait for the new SM album . Mr Vermandé