Barry Miles (musician)
Encyclopedia
Barry Miles is an American pianist, drummer, composer, producer, arranger and author.
Miles was born in Newark, New Jersey
and grew up in North Plainfield, New Jersey
.
He joined the musicians union at age nine in 1956 as a child prodigy drummer/pianist/vibist appearing with Miles Davis
and John Coltrane
among other talents of the day live and on TV shows including To Tell The Truth
, Dick Van Dyke
's variety show, and The Andy Williams Show
. He made his solo artist debut recording at age fourteen in 1961, "Miles Of Genius", as drummer and composer with sidemen Al Hall and Duke Jordan
. Miles continued to perform with his own band in the early 1960s which he composed the material for showcasing up and coming talents Woody Shaw
, Eddie Gomez
and Robin Kenyatta
among others.
He wrote the instruction book, "Twelve Themes With Improvisations", published in 1963 by Belwin-Mills, currently out of print.
While a student at Princeton University
, Miles focused as a pianist recording a live album in 1966, Barry Miles Presents His Syncretic Compositions. He applied the philosophical term "syncretic" to music, defining the process of melding any combination of musical influences and styles together in the improvisational jazz idiom with originality. The combination of Miles's early jazz influences, his early Rock and roll
background from the late 1950s and early 1960s, and his innovative "melting pot of musical styles" concept, resulted in this recording.
Miles followed this release in 1969 with the eponymously titled album, Barry Miles, incorporating electronic instruments including his use of electric piano, one of the first recorded.
In 1971, Miles recruited his brother Terry Silverlight
on drums along with guitarists Pat Martino
and John Abercrombie
to record his White Heat album which is regarded as one of the pioneering "fusion" jazz recordings of all time.
For the next decade, Miles recorded several albums further developing the concept of fusing styles together in jazz.
In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Miles embarked upon a prolific career as a keyboardist and Minimoog
soloist on many recordings in the heyday of studio work, while working as Roberta Flack
's musical director for a stint that lasted fifteen years. During that time, he composed, produced and recorded songs that Flack recorded in the film Bustin' Loose, and on her album Oasis
. After Al Di Meola
's stint as the guitarist in Miles's band on live performances and Miles's PBS special "Fusion Suite" in 1973, a long-lasting relationship developed between Miles and DiMeola that resulted in Miles's frequent appearances as keyboardist on DiMeola's albums along with co-production credits.
Miles was born in Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
and grew up in North Plainfield, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
He joined the musicians union at age nine in 1956 as a child prodigy drummer/pianist/vibist appearing with Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
and John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
among other talents of the day live and on TV shows including To Tell The Truth
To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication...
, Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...
's variety show, and The Andy Williams Show
The Andy Williams Show
The Andy Williams Show is a television variety show which ran from 1959 to 1971 , and a short-lived run in syndication, beginning in the fall of 1976...
. He made his solo artist debut recording at age fourteen in 1961, "Miles Of Genius", as drummer and composer with sidemen Al Hall and Duke Jordan
Duke Jordan
Irving Sidney "Duke" Jordan was an American jazz pianist.-Biography:An imaginative and gifted pianist, Jordan was a regular member of Charlie Parker's so-called "classic quintet" , featuring Miles Davis...
. Miles continued to perform with his own band in the early 1960s which he composed the material for showcasing up and coming talents Woody Shaw
Woody Shaw
Woody Shaw was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer and band leader, often referred to as the "last innovator" in the jazz trumpet lineage...
, Eddie Gomez
Eddie Gomez
Edgar "Eddie" Gómez is a Puerto Rican jazz double bassist born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, perhaps most notable for his work done with the Bill Evans trio from 1966 to 1977.-Biography:...
and Robin Kenyatta
Robin Kenyatta
Robin Kenyatta was an American jazz alto saxophonist.-Career:Born Robert Prince Haynes in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, United States, Kenyatta grew up in New York. He played with Bill Dixon there in the 1960s, playing with his project "The October Revolution in Jazz"...
among others.
He wrote the instruction book, "Twelve Themes With Improvisations", published in 1963 by Belwin-Mills, currently out of print.
While a student at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, Miles focused as a pianist recording a live album in 1966, Barry Miles Presents His Syncretic Compositions. He applied the philosophical term "syncretic" to music, defining the process of melding any combination of musical influences and styles together in the improvisational jazz idiom with originality. The combination of Miles's early jazz influences, his early Rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
background from the late 1950s and early 1960s, and his innovative "melting pot of musical styles" concept, resulted in this recording.
Miles followed this release in 1969 with the eponymously titled album, Barry Miles, incorporating electronic instruments including his use of electric piano, one of the first recorded.
In 1971, Miles recruited his brother Terry Silverlight
Terry Silverlight
Terry Silverlight is a jazz, pop, rock and R&B drummer, composer, producer, arranger and author.Silverlight was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in North Plainfield, New Jersey. He made his debut as a drummer on Barry Miles 's White Heat album, recorded in 1971 when Silverlight was fourteen...
on drums along with guitarists Pat Martino
Pat Martino
Pat Martino is an Italian-American jazz guitarist and composer within the post bop, fusion, mainstream jazz, soul jazz and hard bop idioms.-Biography:...
and John Abercrombie
John Abercrombie (guitarist)
John Abercrombie is an American jazz guitarist, whose work often explores jazz fusion and post bop. Abercrombie has played with Billy Cobham, Jack DeJohnette, Michael Brecker and Randy Brecker...
to record his White Heat album which is regarded as one of the pioneering "fusion" jazz recordings of all time.
For the next decade, Miles recorded several albums further developing the concept of fusing styles together in jazz.
In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Miles embarked upon a prolific career as a keyboardist and Minimoog
Minimoog
The Minimoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer, invented by Bill Hemsath and Robert Moog. It was released in 1970 by R.A. Moog Inc. , and production was stopped in 1981. It was re-designed by Robert Moog in 2002 and released as Minimoog Voyager.The Minimoog was designed in response to the use of...
soloist on many recordings in the heyday of studio work, while working as Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
's musical director for a stint that lasted fifteen years. During that time, he composed, produced and recorded songs that Flack recorded in the film Bustin' Loose, and on her album Oasis
Oasis (Roberta Flack album)
Oasis was Roberta Flack's first solo album of newly recorded songs since 1982's I'm the One. It was released in 1988 and features the number-one U.S...
. After Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date...
's stint as the guitarist in Miles's band on live performances and Miles's PBS special "Fusion Suite" in 1973, a long-lasting relationship developed between Miles and DiMeola that resulted in Miles's frequent appearances as keyboardist on DiMeola's albums along with co-production credits.
As leader
- Miles of Genius (1961)
- Barry Miles Presents His Syncretic Compositions (1966)
- Barry Miles (1969)
- White Heat (1971)
- Scatbird (1972)
- Barry Miles and Silverlight (1974)
- Magic Theatre (1975)
- Barry Miles and Eric Kloss (1975)
- Sky Train (1976)
- Fusion Is...Barry Miles (1977)
- Zoot Suit Stomp (1986)
As sideman
- OasisOasis (Roberta Flack album)Oasis was Roberta Flack's first solo album of newly recorded songs since 1982's I'm the One. It was released in 1988 and features the number-one U.S...
- Roberta FlackRoberta FlackRoberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music... - Best Of: Softly With These Songs - Roberta Flack
- ImaginationImagination (Gladys Knight & the Pips album)-Charts:AlbumSingles-See also:*List of number-one R&B albums of 1973 *List of number-one R&B albums of 1974 -External links:* at Discogs...
- Gladys Knight & the PipsGladys Knight & the PipsGladys Knight & The Pips were an R&B/soul family musical act from Atlanta, Georgia, active from 1953 to 1989. The group was best known for their string of hit singles on Motown's "Soul" record label and Buddah Records from 1967 to 1975, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Midnight... - I Feel a SongI Feel a Song-Charts:AlbumSingles-Later Samples:*"The Way We Were"**"Can It Be All So Simple" by Wu-Tang Clan from the album Enter the Wu-Tang *"Love Finds Its Own Way"**"Susan's House" by Eels from the album Beautiful Freak...
- Gladys Knight & the Pips - Very Best Of - Patti AustinPatti Austin-Life and career:Austin was born in Harlem, New York. She made her debut at the Apollo Theater at age four and had a contract with RCA Records when she was only five. Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington have proclaimed themselves as her godparents....
- Land of the Midnight SunLand of the Midnight Sun (album)Land of the Midnight Sun is the first album by Al Di Meola, released in 1976. The complex pieces show Di Meola's range even at this early stage.-Track listing:#"The Wizard" – 6:46#"Land of the Midnight Sun"...
- Al Di MeolaAl Di MeolaAl Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date... - Elegant GypsyElegant GypsyElegant Gypsy is the second album by American jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola, released in 1977. It was a follow-up album to Di Meola's debut release, Land of the Midnight Sun. The distinctive music in the album is a speedy fusion of jazz and rock, with lightning-fast guitar riffs intermixed with...
- Al Di Meola - CasinoCasino (Al Di Meola album)Casino is a 1978 album by Latin jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola.-Track listing:#"Egyptian Danza" – 5:56#"Chasin' the Voodoo" – 5:05#"Dark Eye Tango" – 5:23#"Señor Mouse" – 7:21...
- Al Di Meola - Kiss My AxeKiss My AxeKiss My Axe is an album by Italian-American jazz fusion and Latin jazz guitarist Al Di Meola, released in 1991. Musicians include Barry Miles on piano and keyboards, Anthony Jackson on six string contrabass guitar, Rachel Z on synthesizer and Gumbi Ortiz on conga.-Track listing:All songs by Al Di...
- Al Di Meola - Consequence of ChaosConsequence of ChaosConsequence of Chaos is an album by Italian-American jazz fusion and Latin jazz guitarist Al Di Meola, released in 2006. The album features guest appearances by Chick Corea, Steve Gadd, John Patitucci and Barry Miles.-Track listing:...
- Al Di Meola - Capricorn Princess - Esther PhillipsEsther PhillipsEsther Phillips was an American singer. Phillips was known for her R&B vocals, but she was a versatile singer, also performing pop, country, jazz, blues and soul music.-Early life:...
- Tenor Saxophone - Nino TempoNino TempoNino Tempo is an American musician, singer, and actor.A musical prodigy, Nino Tempo learned to play the clarinet and the tenor saxophone as a child. He was a talent show winner at four years of age and appeared on television with Benny Goodman at seven...
- Calello Serenade - The Charlie CalelloCharlie CalelloCharlie Calello is an American, singer, composer, conductor, arranger, accordionist and record producer born in Newark, New Jersey.Calello attended Newark Arts High School. and Manhattan School of Music, in New York City....
Orchestra - Jimmy McGriff featuring Hank CrawfordHank CrawfordBennie Ross "Hank" Crawford, Jr. was an American R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, soul jazz alto saxophonist, arranger and songwriter...
- Jimmy McGriffJimmy McGriffJames Harrell McGriff was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who developed a distinctive style of playing the Hammond B-3 organ.-Early years and influences:... - Miami - Gumbi Ortiz
- The London Sessions - Mel TorméMel TorméMelvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
- Road Song - Vic JurisVic JurisVictor E. Jurusz, Jr., known professionally as Vic Juris is an American jazz guitarist.Juris played with Lyn Christie early in the 1970s and made his first recordings with Eric Kloss in 1975. Soon after he joined Barry Miles 's group, remaining with Miles well into the 1980s...
- Horizon Drive - Vic Juris
- Bodies Warmth - Eric KlossEric KlossEric Kloss is an American jazz saxophonist.Blind since birth, Kloss first played professionally in the Pittsburgh area in the 1960s, and played with Pat Martino in 1965; later that year he made his first recordings at age 16 for Prestige Records...
- Seven Deadly Sins - Phil WoodsPhil WoodsPhilip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
- Shoogie Wanna Boogie - David MatthewsDavid Matthews (keyboardist)David Matthews is a keyboardist, pianist, and arranger, born in Sonora, Kentucky, United States.A graduate of the University of Cincinnati with a Bachelor's degree in composition, Matthews has composed television soundtracks as well as albums with the Manhattan Jazz Orchestra. He is the leader of...
with Whirlwind - Terry Silverlight - Terry SilverlightTerry SilverlightTerry Silverlight is a jazz, pop, rock and R&B drummer, composer, producer, arranger and author.Silverlight was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in North Plainfield, New Jersey. He made his debut as a drummer on Barry Miles 's White Heat album, recorded in 1971 when Silverlight was fourteen...
- Diamond in the RiffDiamond in the RiffDiamond In The Riff is a 2008 album by American jazz musician Terry Silverlight, featuring pianist/composer Barry Miles, bassist Will Lee, and musical contributors David Mann, Aaron Heick, Glenn Alexander, Tabitha Fair, Lew Soloff, Bob Malach, Larry Farrell and Allan Molnar.-Track listing:All...
- Terry Silverlight
Chart Topping
- "Midnight Train To GeorgiaMidnight Train to Georgia"Midnight Train to Georgia" is a 1973 number-one hit single by Gladys Knight & the Pips, their second release after departing Motown Records for Buddah Records...
" - Gladys Knight & the PipsGladys Knight & the PipsGladys Knight & The Pips were an R&B/soul family musical act from Atlanta, Georgia, active from 1953 to 1989. The group was best known for their string of hit singles on Motown's "Soul" record label and Buddah Records from 1967 to 1975, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Midnight... - "Dynomite" - BazukaBazukaBazuka was an American instrumental R&B group, put together by the record producer Tony Camillo. They released a self-titled album on A&M Records in 1975 which featured the song "Dynomite", a #10 hit in the US Billboard pop chart that year. The single also peaked at #29 on the US R&B chart, #6 Hot...
- "I Feel a Song (In My Heart)I Feel a Song (In My Heart)"I Feel a Song " is a song recorded by Gladys Knight & the Pips. From the album I Feel a Song, the single spent two weeks at number one on the Hot Soul Singles chart in late 1974. It also peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart...
" - Gladys Knight & the Pips
External links
- Barry Miles artist page at The Bottom End