During the l920's, Ray Miller was a well-known, highly respected bandleader whose orchestra made many recordings for various companies; it was featured on-the-air for most of that decade. Like Paul Whiteman, Ted Lewis and a few others he usually had top jazz musicians amongst his personnel. Despite all this very little is known about Ray Miller himself. His musical career started in 1916 when he was a singing waiter at the Casino Gardens in Chicago. This restaurant happened to be the place where the Original Dixieland Jazz Band appeared before they went to New York. Ray decided to try his luck and he followed them. In NYC he started his first band called the Black and White Melody Boys that was six pieces including himself on drums. As long as the jazz craze stayed on, they played in the style of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. By 1922 Miller moved away from the old sound to a style that was in-line with the newer, larger bands. By the end of 1923, his band was playing the! newest hits in the latest style and was offered an exclusive recording contract by Brunswick, then one of the three largest recording companies in the USA. That first band included well-known names like Earl Oliver, Ray Lodwig and Andy Sanella and from its very beginning it produced many jazz-flavored recordings. In 1924 Miff Mole and Frank Trumbauer joined Ray's orchestra, when he had an engagement in the Paradise Club in Newark, New Jersey. This period proved to be an important one for Ray Miller
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