In 1984, Ronald Reagan was reelected, Ghostbusters was number one at the box office, Bruce Springsteen released Born in the U.S.A., and Miller’s truck broke down in Denver as she was headed to Los Angeles to become a star. The rest, as they say, is history. On June 10, Hazel Miller was inducted into Colorado Music Hall of Fame, joining legends like John Denver, jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, folk singer Judy Collins and Red Rocks Amphitheatre itself, where the ceremony was held.
“I don't know what to say about that,” marvels Miller. “I'm surprised. I'm actually past surprised — I’m amazed. Dianne Reeves is up there, and she’s considered the greatest living jazz singer in the world. So for them to induct me, it kind of feels like, 'Really? Are you sure?'"
Miller was especially gratified to share 2023 induction honors with Big Head Todd and the Monsters, who’ll be performing with Blues Traveler after the Hall of Fame ceremony, with Miller slated to join a set. “I love those guys,” she says. “Back in 1996, they took me on the road. Every newspaper in town was shocked — as was I! They took me all the way to the top of the local rung of artists, and it was just amazing to be there. They've always been very kind to me.”
Todd Mohr and company are by no means the first stars Miller has joined on stage, though. She grew up in a large Catholic family in Louisville, Kentucky, and began singing in parochial school. “When I was a teenager, I got to open for James Brown. We made fifty bucks apiece! In the 1970s, fifty bucks for a sixteen-year-old was a lot of flippin’ money.”
Opening for Al Green in 1971 while she was still a high school senior, Miller had no doubts about her goals. “My name was on the radio,” she says. “It was quite inspiring. But I've always known that this is what I was going to do. I always knew that I'd be singing somewhere, for somebody.”
Marriage and motherhood did put her singing career on hold for a time. But by 1984, Miller was divorced with three sons and on her way to the bright lights of L.A. Her U-Haul had other plans, and she found herself stuck under the bright lights of East Colfax.
Worried about how gang violence in Los Angeles might affect her family, Miller decided to stay in Colorado. She began going to open mics in Five Points and soon joined fellow Kentuckian Joe Tripp as a singer for his band, Rich Relations. She never looked back.
Hazel Miller has played everywhere from City Park Jazz to the White House.
Colorado Music Hall of Fame
“Every member of this band is incredible,” she says. “Coco [Brown] and Cody [Carbone] and I, we share the lead singer duties. Coco has a voice like Sarah Vaughan — smooth as glass and absolutely mesmerizing. Cody plays guitar and, in my opinion, there's no one on the radio, there's no one touring, that's better than he is.”
In fact, Miller would like to boot Carbone from the act — but not for a bad reason. “I keep praying that there's some national band that is going to come by. Going to see him, hear him, snatch him away and take him on the road,” she says. “He's the only one young enough to still do that.”
Miller is 69, and other members of the Collective are almost as well-seasoned. Bassist Rich Lamb and keyboard player Dana Marsh have played with Miller for decades, and drummer Brian Mikulich and saxophonist Jeff Nathanson are veterans. Mikulich has appeared with local and national artists such as Chris Daniels and the Kings, Nina Storey and Lannie Garrett; Nathanson has performed before audiences of more than 40,000 with Kenny Loggins, Freddie Fender and Latin-pop superstar Luis Miguel.
And as Marsh enters “partial” retirement, Denver keyboardist Stu MacAskie will join the band this summer.
The Collective is as much a Front Range staple as craft beer and dogs named Bodie, performing nearly nonstop. “We do 200, 250 shows a year,” says Miller. “Even with the pandemic, we were down to a little less than 100, but we were still working. People would space out their blankets, and everyone stayed on them unless they were going to get a drink or to the bathroom.”
Canceled wedding receptions and other events rebooked as soon as possible. “I have one bride, bless her little heart. I saw her not too long ago, and she just wanted to let me know that they were very happy and they’re expecting their first child,” recalls Miller. “She had a really small wedding [in 2020] at her parents’ house. But we did the reception in 2022, and it was a blowout party. We rocked! Oh, my goodness. We were only supposed to play two hours. Thirty minutes, forty minutes later, a full hour later, her father came up and said, ‘I think our neighbors are getting a little upset,’ and we had to shut it down. But we had a ball. People danced like it was the last time they were ever going to dance.”
Hazel Miller and her seven-piece band, the Collective, will perform a free show on Sunday, June 19.
Hazel Miller Website
She headlines the center’s “Jazzed” fundraiser each fall, and is encouraging everyone to attend this year’s event, October 13 at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. “They're faith-based, so they get no monies from state, federal or local governments," she points out. "All the money they raise is from the small fees you pay when you come in for a visit or from donations and this fundraiser.” (Get details at innercityhealth.org.)
Miller is an ardent booster of the scene. “The metro Denver area is the best-kept music secret in the United States,” she insists. “I used to go see Elephant Revival for $5 in Boulder. Motet for free, playing in the bandshell in Boulder. Nathaniel Rateliff on Larimer Street for seven bucks. Mary Louise Lee is one of the most amazing singers; if you close your eyes, one minute she sounds like Natalie Cole, and then the next song, you’d swear Whitney Houston was on stage."
Miller used to host a karaoke show in Morrison, and two of her “karaoke babies” now have bands of their own, Vamanos Pest and Twenty Hands High. “I go see new singers,” she adds. “There's a young girl in high school named Julia Kirkwood. She’s opened for me, and she’s astounding. There are two young singers called Wrenn and Ian — they blew me out of my shoes.
“There's so much talent in this area — you don't need to go to L.A.” she continues. “I've done things that I never would have had a chance to do in L.A. or in Louisville, simply because I was in Denver. I’ve been my own boss for more than thirty years, put three boys through high school and two of them through college. Denver has been incredibly good to me. It’s home, and I have no intention of going anywhere for anything unless I can come back to Denver.”
But Miller isn’t going anywhere, except to the next show, where she’s sometimes joined by granddaughter Trinity Miller. “She's really very, very good,” brags Miller. “I know that before I go meet my maker — at least I hope so — I'm gonna see her on Broadway.”
Until then, she plans to keep performing her signature mix of R&B and soul. “R&B is just soul wearing blue jeans,” she says, and laughs. “And I’m going to sing ’til I can’t do it anymore.”
Big Head Todd and the Monsters and Hazel Miller were inducted into Colorado Music Hall of Fame on June 10 at Red Rocks; this story was in originally published in advance of that event. Find more information on upcoming Hazel Miller shows here.
