Three-year stints with trumpeter Woody Shaw and with drummer Art Blakey's high-profile Jazz Messengers followed, by the end of which Miller had formed his own bands and begun recording under his own name.

He was then part of drummer Tony Williams' quintet from its foundation, while continuing to play and record with numerous other leaders, mostly in small groups.

Miller was director of jazz studies at William Paterson University from 2005, and continued to play and tour internationally with other high-profile figures in the music until his death from a stroke at the age of 57.

[4] He played euphonium, but, during his two years at the university,[4] Miller met pianists Donald Brown and James Williams, who introduced him to the music of players such as Wynton Kelly, Bud Powell, and McCoy Tyner.

[8][11] His membership of the orchestra helped him, in the words of a piano magazine, to get "respect as a powerful, two-fisted pianist adept at delivering entrancingly lyrical and gracefully introspective runs as well as dazzling and buoyant passages".

[10] In January 1980, Miller left the Duke Ellington Orchestra[8] after being recruited by vocalist Betty Carter, with whom he toured for eight months that year.

[3] Miller was recommended by Terence Blanchard and Donald Harrison for Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers,[18]: 110–11  and he joined the drummer's band in 1983.

[14] Initially, he struggled to fit in with Blakey dominating the rhythm section, but Miller stated that, over his period with the band: "My playing just generally matured.

[22] Jon Pareles' review of a solo concert in 1986 observed that Miller's playing showed the influence of Powell on some numbers and Kelly on others, but that, overall, he was developing "his own, authoritative style".

[36] In 1990, Miller traveled to the Soviet Union to appear as pianist in Benny Golson's band at the first Moscow International Jazz Festival.

[37] In 1992, Miller also toured domestically and internationally with the New York Jazz Giants, a septet containing Jon Faddis, Tom Harrell, Lew Tabackin, Bobby Watson, Ray Drummond, and Carl Allen.

[45] He joined bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen in 1999 to record The Duets an album based on 1940s performances by Duke Ellington and Jimmy Blanton.

[12][51] In the mid-2000s, Miller joined bassist Dave Holland's band, changing it from a quintet to a sextet, and adding gospel and soul elements to the group's sound.

[53] He also became heavily involved in music education: Miller was the Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University from 2005,[6] and was the Artist in Residence at Lafayette College in 2008,[54] which was two years after it had awarded him an honorary doctorate in Performing Arts.

[46] A 2000 concert recording entitled Solo, was released in 2010 and was well received by critics for the imagination and harmonic development in Miller's playing.

[21] In February 2012 he traveled to Denmark to play with Klüvers Big Band; selections from one of the five concerts were released under Miller's co-leadership as Grew's Tune.

[61] In the winter of that year he toured Europe as part of a quintet led by reeds players Yusef Lateef and Archie Shepp.

[42]Ben Ratliff, writing for The New York Times, commented that, "As a composer, Mr. Miller is difficult to peg; like his piano playing, he's a bit of everything.

"[65] Critic Ted Panken observed in 2004 that Miller the pianist "finds ways to conjure beauty from pentatonics and odd intervals, infusing his lines with church and blues strains and propelling them with a joyous, incessant beat".

[26] The obituary writer for DownBeat observed that "Miller could swing hard but maintained grace and precision with a touch and facility that influenced generations of musicians.

[6] Vibraphonist Warren Wolf stated that Miller helped him early in his career, including by being a link to jazz history: "you're getting that experience of playing with Art Blakey, that attitude of 'Yes, it's my band, but you have to give other people a chance to shine.

"[67] He almost never transcribed recordings (something that jazz musicians are typically taught to do); Miller credited this with slowing his learning process, but also with allowing him to express himself more freely, as he reached his own understanding of the compositions he played.