Jazz Articles about Ron Miles

About Ron Miles

Album Review

When two workers were killed by a malfunctioning garbage truck in Memphis in 1968, the flames of activism were rightly stoked. Sanitation workers fed up with poor working conditions and abuse of power poured into the streets wielding “I Am A Man" signs, making a principled stand that spoke not only to the situation at hand, but also to a broader struggle connected to the civil rights movement. That incident remains clearly fixed in cornetist Ron Miles' mind, standing out ...

Album Review

Ron Miles: Circuit Rider

Read "Circuit Rider" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero

by Vincenzo Roggero
November 11, 2014

È pratica ormai diffusa anche tra musicisti dall'assidua frequentazione del jazz avventuroso e sperimentale quella di confrontarsi con registrazioni di tipo “domestico," intime, di tono colloquiale, in economie di mezzi, dove a prevalere è una sorta di understatement interpretativo. Circuit Rider rientra a pieno titolo in questa categoria, presenta tre musicisti di grande spessore, tre maestri dalla ipnotica personalità e dal multiforme percorso artistico che ci offrono un'ora di musica carezzevole, e gioiosa, nella quale tradizione folk, influssi gospel, ed ...

Album Review

Ron Miles: Quiver

Read "Quiver" reviewed by AAJ Italy Staff

by AAJ Italy Staff
November 15, 2012

La tromba di Ron Miles e la chitarra di Bill Frisell incrociano le rispettive strade con regolarità ormai da oltre quindici anni. Strade feconde di suoni intimi, cristallini, che lasciano un retrogusto amarognolo delizioso. C'è un intero album in duo, Heaven, ottimo quanto poco distribuito, che testimonia un'unità di intenti di notevole compattezza espressiva. Ora Miles, in veste di leader, ha chiamato Brain Blade dietro i tamburi, per un trio delle meraviglie protagonista di questo Quiver, bella sorpresa, registrato dal ...

Album Review

Ron Miles: Quiver

Read "Quiver" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
October 2, 2012

Some musicians are recognized not only for their abilities but also their vociferous commentaries, holding true the phrase that “the squeaky wheel gets the most attention." Yet there are more subdued voices who let their music do the talking, as is the case for Ron Miles' Quiver, a project led by the Denver-based trumpeter and his talented cohorts, guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Brian Blade. These gentle masters are highly respected leaders with expansive discographies and projects that have covered ...

Interview

Ron Miles: Jazz Gentleman, Part 3

by Florence Wetzel
July 18, 2012

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3[Editor's Note: In Florence Wetzel's in-depth interview with Ron Miles, the Colorado-based trumpeter covers the rest of his releases, including an exclusive first look at his forthcoming album, Quiver (Enja, 2012), due out later this year.]Laughing Barrel AAJ: So next you have another Sterling Circle release, Laughing Barrel (2003), which has seven tunes, all your original compositions. Rudy Royston is on drums, and you have two other great musicians: ...

Interview

Ron Miles: Jazz Gentleman, Part 2

by Florence Wetzel
July 17, 2012

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 [Editor's Note: The second part of Florence Wetzel's extensive interview with Ron Miles covers the Colorado-based trumpeter's early performance years, and begins a chronological look at all of his solo releases, beginning with Distance for Safety (Prolific Records, 1987) and concluding with Heaven (Sterling Circle, 2002), his soft duet with guitarist Bill Frisell, with whom Miles has played, off and on, since the early 1990s. Part 3 concludes the interview ...

Interview

Ron Miles: Jazz Gentleman

by Florence Wetzel
July 16, 2012

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 [Editor's note: Last month, All About Jazz contributor Florence Wetzel conducted a two-hour interview with Ron Miles. The result is the most extensive interview piece ever written about the Colorado-based trumpeter. Part 1 covers his early years and education; Parts 2 and 3, bringing Miles up to the present, will be published on consecutive days.] Now at the midpoint of his career, trumpeter Ron Miles has created a ...