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Ron Miles: Stone/Blossom
Stone, the first of two discs, is a fairly straightforward quartet session featuring Miles' Denver rhythm section. The compositionsall originals by the leaderunfold slowly, sometimes painfully and seldom emerge from a nearly uniform balladic tempo. The playing is solid all around, as is the group cohesion and sound, but something is lacking. Stone could easily pass for "background music, the kind that hums in elevators and hotel lobbies, if not for the subtle melodic turns, languid half-valves and glowing trumpet dissonances.
He literally saves "Devil In Mind with his melodic invention and rhythmic sense, as he does with most of the cuts from the first disc; the tunes simply aren't on the same level as the playing.
An augmented group backs Miles on Blossom, as they open disc two of the set with the prog-rockish original "Since Forever. Purists may cringe at the canned drum beat and repeating pedal steel riff, but the melody is truly catchy and Miles' reading of it and his subsequent solo are memorable; he even throws in some subtle variations, harmonic rubs and coy growls to mix it up. Far and away the high point of the disc is a clever cover of "I'll Be There. The guitar riff is simply irresistible, breaking through clouds of dissonance and smeared trumpet notes to keep a steady pulse behind the leader's relaxed, lovely horn.
Track Listing
Stone: Clairvoyant; Devil in Mind; Letter Grade; Unconditional; Stone; Grown Folks; Cupid. Blossom: Since Forever; Small Town Hero; Gethsemane; I Woke Up In Love This Morning; I
Personnel
Ron Miles
cornetStone: Ron Miles: trumpet; Rudy Royston: drums; Kent McLagan: bass; Eric Gunnison: piano. Blossom: Ron Miles: cornet; Rudy Royston: drums; Greg Garrison: bass; Roger Green: guitar; Erik Deutsch: piano, Rhodes Piano; Eric Moon: organ, accordion, keyboards; Glenn Taylor: pedal steel guitar.
Album information
Title: Stone / Blossom | Year Released: 2006 | Record Label: Sterling Circle