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." 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." John Fordham commented that Miller's "melodic fluency and percussive chordwork [...] recalled Oscar Peterson [...but] with glimpses of the harmonically freer methods of McCoy Tyner", and that Miller was much more than the hard bop player that he was often stereotyped as being. The obituary writer for "Down Beat" observed that "Miller could swing hard but maintained grace and precision with a touch and facility that influenced generations of musicians."