(August 6, 2026) If you listened to funk and jazz fusion in the 1970s, you heard the work of Byron Miller even if you did not know the name. Miller played with some legendary jazz and funk pianists and band leaders, including Herbie Hancock and Joe Sample. However, his tenure with George Duke in the late 1970s is likely when funk and R&B fans first heard his work.
Miller served as George Duke’s bassist during the 1970s, and he played bass on some of the most memorable and infectious bass lines of that era, including “Reach for It,” “I Want You For Myself,” “We Give Our Love” and “Dukey Stick.”
Miller has been been applying the lessons that he learned playing for those legends as a band leader for the better part of three decades. Miller has now returned with the ballad “Secrets of Love” that features vocals from frequent collaborator Kimberly Brewer. The tune finds Miller displaying the percussive playing that fans recall from his 1970s heyday with George Duke and the melodic bass playing that displays the influence of Joe Sample.
“Secrets of Love” fuses Brewer’s hypnotically alluring vocals with a story that uses the image of a feather floating on a wind into the path of two lovers as a metaphor for a love can endure the unpredictable winds of fate. Check out “Secrets of Love” by Byron Miller and featuring Kimberly Brewer here.
By Howard Dukes
