Born in 1938, and raised in Glendale, California, Lloyd Miller has had one of the most unusual careers in all of jazz. By age 12 he had declared anintent to make his living as a jazz musician, and by high school he had already begun to experiment, shunning swing music's mechanical perfection,and chafing at his parents’ desire for him to nurture his talents with formal training. This tumultous relationship with his parents would eventuallylead to a stint in a psychatric hospital, before reuniting with them in moving to Iran, his father having accepted a job working for the Shah.Oriental Jazz was recorded, compiled and self-released in 1968 while Miller was studying at Brigham Young.