My friend Phil Miller, who has died of cancer aged 68, was a distinctive and original guitarist and composer. In 1971 he became a vital figure on the “Canterbury scene” when Robert Wyatt, who had just left Soft Machine, recruited Phil to join his new band, Matching Mole. The “scene”, noted for the frequent absence of the electric guitar as a lead instrument, boasted Phil as its undisputed exponent.
Phil’s next band, in 1973, was Hatfield and the North, with the keyboardist Dave Stewart. He continued to develop as an emotive composer and incisive soloist. His compositions were sophisticated but his solos were deeply rooted in blues. He had a tumbling sense of timing that was impossible to replicate, effortlessly hurdling over time-signature changes like a world-class showjumper. You would have felt like applauding if you had not been so enraptured by the engaging elegance of it all.
Hatfield morphed into the band National Health – but there was little scope for improvisation and Phil was left feeling creatively stifled. In 1982, with his wife Herm, he soundproofed part of their flat in Dalston, east London, to use as a studio for practising, composing, rehearsals and recording, and formed his own band, In Cahoots. Lasting three decades and with a lineup that at various times included Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper, Pip Pyle and Fred Baker, the band toured in Europe, Russia, Japan and the US, releasing 12 albums.
Phil was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, to Mavis (nee Dale), a librarian, and David Miller, a wartime lieutenant colonel in the Royal Marines and later head of commodities at the Stock Exchange. He was educated at Blackfriars boarding school, in Laxton, Northamptonshire, from where he occasionally truanted at night, hitch-hiking to London clubs to hear his musical heroes play, and returning unmissed in time for early-morning mass. A self-taught guitarist, he formed his first band, Delivery, at 17, who played regularly upstairs at Ronnie Scott’s in London, backing visiting blues legends, before Phil joined Matching Mole.
One of Phil’s last acts was to release the In Cahoots albums free on YouTube under the title Phil Miller Musician – a typical example of his generosity of spirit.
Herm (nee Mew), whom he married in 1983, survives him, as does his sister, Jane.