Miles Black is a multi-instrumentalist and producer residing in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.http://vancouverjazz.com/newcd/2005/09/miles-black.html

Biography

Miles Black was born in Port Alberni, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. He started playing piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 at age 12. He studied jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and classical music with George Essihos and began performing professionally at age 14 in Victoria, B.C., with various jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and R & B groups as pianist, arranger and composer.

By the age of 18, Black had worked as a music therapist, musical director of the C.A.S.T. Theatre Company, guitarist, bassist, saxophonist, vocalist and scoring films in the Victoria

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

 and Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...

 area.

In 1987, Black moved to Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

 and has since performed with Glenda Rae, Ann Mortifee

Ann Mortifee

Ann Mortifee, CM is a Canadian-based singer-songwriter, writer and speaker. After emigrating to Canada in childhood, she spent her youth in Vancouver, British Columbia. At the beginning of her musical career, she joined the cast of the original Vancouver production of The Ecstasy of Rita Joe...

, Shari Ulrich

Shari Ulrich

Sharon Ulrich, is a Canadian musician-songwriter. She has won a Juno Award for "Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year", and has acted as a television host, actor, film composer, & songwriting educator...

, Maynard Ferguson

Maynard Ferguson

Maynard Ferguson was a Canadian jazz musician and bandleader. He came to prominence playing in Stan Kenton's orchestra, before forming his own band in 1957...

, Valdy

Valdy

Paul Valdemar Horsdal, CM , commonly known as Valdy, is a Canadian folk musician whose solo career began in the early 1970s. He is known for "Rock and Roll Song", his first mainstream single released in mid-1972 on Haida/A&M.He was a member of the London Town Criers during the 1960s and...

, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Slide Hampton

Slide Hampton

Locksley Wellington "Slide" Hampton is an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.He was a 1998 Grammy Award winner for "Best Jazz Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist", as arranger for "Cotton Tail" performed by Dee Dee Bridgewater...

, Mark Murphy

Mark Murphy (singer)

Mark Murphy is an American jazz singer based in New York. He is most noted for his definitive and unique vocalese and vocal improvisations with both melody and lyrics...

, Rodney Whitaker, Dee Daniels, Carl Anderson

Carl Anderson (singer)

Carl Anderson was an American singer, film and theatre actor best known for his portrayal of Judas Iscariot in the Broadway and film versions of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.-Early life:Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, Anderson was one of 12 children of...

, Christine Duncan, Skywalk (band)

Skywalk (band)

Skywalk was a fusion jazz band based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. The band was formed in 1979 by Graeme Coleman and Rene Worst , with Tom Keenlyside , Ihor Kukurudza , Jim McGillveray , and Lou Hoover .They opened for Oscar Peterson at the 1980 Montreaux/Detroit International Jazz Festival...

 (as keyboardist since 1989), Oliver Gannon, Kenny Colman, Carl Allen

Carl Allen (drummer)

Carl Allen is an American jazz drummer.He has worked with a wide variety of musicians, including Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, George Coleman and Phil Woods. and the Benny Green Trio....

, the Mike Allen Quartet, The Robin Shier Quintet, Almeta Speaks, The Paul Horn

Paul Horn (jazz musician)

Paul Horn is an American jazz flautist, and is considered by some to be a pioneer of New Age music.-Biography:Paul Horn was born in New York City, and began playing the piano at the age of 4 and the saxophone at the age of 12...

 Band (USSR Tour 1988), Wildroot Orchestra, Chuck Israels

Chuck Israels

Charles H. "Chuck" Israels is a composer, arranger, and bassist who is best known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio. He has also worked with Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock, J. J. Johnson, John Coltrane and many others.-Biography:Chuck Israels was...

, Jim Ferguson, Brad Turner, Soulstream, Sam Masich

Sam Masich

Sam Masich is a taijiquan instructor, performing songwriter and filmmaker residing in Vancouver, Canada and Berlin, Germany.- Biography :Sam Masich was born February 7, 1962 in Prince George, British Columbia Canada. He began his career with an intensive apprenticeship in taijiquan and judo at age...

, Rob Frayne, Fraser MacPherson, Max Roach

Max Roach

Maxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...

, Claudio Roditi

Claudio Roditi

Claudio Roditi is a Brazilian jazz trumpeter.After arriving in the United States in 1970, he began to study at Berklee School of Music, where he became musically influenced by Clifford Brown and Lee Morgan...

, Jeff Hyslop

Jeff Hyslop

Jeff Hyslop is a Canadian musical theatre actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, and director. His most famous roles were as Jeff the mannequin in the children's show Today's Special and as the title role in the Canadian travelling production of The Phantom of the Opera...

 and Ruth Nichols, Lew Tabackin

Lew Tabackin

Lew Tabackin is a jazz flautist and a tenor saxophonist. He is married to Toshiko Akiyoshi, who is a jazz pianist and a composer/arranger.-Biography:...

, Houston Person

Houston Person

Houston Person is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and record producer. Although he has performed in the hard bop and swing genres, he is most experienced in and best known for his work in soul jazz. Person is also known for his distinctive sassy sound and his expressive style of playing...

, Gaye Delorme, The Bill Clark Sextet, Von Freeman, Ernie Krivda

Ernie Krivda

Ernie Krivda is a jazz saxophone player.Ernie Krivda began his professional career in 1963 with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. During the 1960s he played in bands of two Cleveland legends, organist Eddie Baccus and guitarist Bill DeArango...

, Johnny Frigo

Johnny Frigo

Johnny Frigo was an American jazz violinist and bassist.His son, Derek John Frigo, was the lead guitarist for the rock band Enuff Z'nuff. Derek Frigo died of a drug overdose on May 28, 2004....

, Martha Lorin and has played with many other popular, established artists locally and abroad.

Black taught piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 at Capilano College in Vancouver from 1990 to 1996, and toured across Canada in 1996 with his own quartet featuring the drummer Claude Ranger.

Black also played piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 and keyboards for musical theatre

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 and recording

Recording studio

A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...

 sessions for television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 and film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

.

Black has also experience producing music instructional software (complete with transcripts), including The Jazz Pianist Levels One & Two, The New Age Pianist, The Children's Pianist, The Modern Jazz Pianist, Jazz Piano Masterclass, and an Oscar Peterson

Oscar Peterson

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...

 instructional CD ROM.

Black has a long standing composition/performance relationship with West Coast vocalist/lyricist Glenda Rae, and together have written over 350 songs, and recorded several albums.

In addition to Black's ongoing collaborations with local and visiting singers and instrumentalists, he has teamed up with Juno Award

Juno Award

The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...

 winning saxophonist and jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 flute

Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

 player, Tom Keenlyside

Tom Keenlyside

Tom Keenlyside is a Juno Award-winning saxophonist and jazz flute player from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.- Biography :Born and raised in Vancouver, Keenlyside took up the trumpet in 1962 at the age of 12, and played in various rhythm and blues bands throughout the 1960s. He played is first...

 to create their jazz ensemble, Altered Laws. The quartet performs regularly and Black and Keenlyside are currently writing and producing new material to accompany albums The Outsiders and Live at the Cellar (both released 2005).

Discography

Miles Black has performed on over 150 albums, including:

• Another Day - Glenda Rae (2004 Brown Bag Music)
• The Cocktail Party Vol. 1 - Glenda Rae (2008 Carltunes Recordings)
• Larger Than Life - Skywalk (1994 Mesa Blue Moon)
• Great Northern - Skywalk (1996 Lions Gate Records)
• Some Enchanted Evening - (2007 Miles Black Trio, Live at the Jazz Cellar)
• Love Story - Dee Daniels (1999 Three X D Music)
• Bellingham Sessions, vols 1&2 - Chuck Israel's Quartet
• Live At The Cellar - Oliver Gannon Quartet
• One Step Closer - Mike Allen (Almus 1998)
• Different Standards - Christine Duncan (1998)
• The Vogue Show - Christine Duncan (1998 SafetyNet Productions)
• For All We Know- Vince Mai Band (1998)
• Straight Ahead - Kenny Colman (Justintime Records 1999)
• Stay With Me - Aubrey Tadman (2001 Groovetime Records)
• Suburban Groove - Robin Shier (Unity Records 1993)
• My Kingdom For A Reed - Stewart Loseby (CBC 2001)
• Struggle To Surface - Moreen Meridan (1999)
• Spin Cycle - Miles Black Quartet (1995)
• Purple Phase - Miles Black Trio (1991)
• Hooked On Romance - Renee Doruyter
• Excentrique - Michel Pan (2000)
• Land Of Passages - Fiona Blackburn
• Everybody's Crying Mercy - LilyAnn MacDonald (1994)
• Why Do People Fall In Love - Doug Laalo (2001)
• The Outsiders - Altered Laws (Artist Jazz Recordings)
• Metaphora - Altered Laws (winner of West Coast Music Award 2008)(Artist Jazz Recordings)
• Two - (jazz duet with bassist Rene Worst)
• In The Shade - Gwen Greenway / Ken Mayo (2004)
• Silk Stockings - Gwen Greenway / Ken Mayo (2008)
• One With You-Trudi Diening (2009)
• Holiday Party (Christmas Album)- Armi Grano(2010 JAC Productions)

External links

• Miles Black Official Web Site