Ron Miles - Circuit Rider (2014) [Hi-Res]

Cornetist Ron Miles leads guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Brian Blade in Circuit Rider, the group’s second album. A logical evolution from the Trio’s debut album Quiver (2012), Circuit Rider epitomizes Miles’ signature lyricism, deceptively simple yet fiendishly difficult to play and spiritually aware compositions. The scope of the album spans American folk traditions and vibrant gospel hope infused with progressive jazz forms. Confident, elegant, and never overstated, Miles provides just the right amount of grace and rhythm as he quietly makes his mark as an exemplary cornetist, composer, and storyteller.

“I like to think that musicians are the messengers of today,” explains Ron Miles. Known for writing songs that possess religious overtones, Miles embarked on this new album with the Circuit Riders of old serving as his inspiration. The 

Circuit Riders, traveling clergy who took the gospel to remote corners of America’s frontier on horseback beginning 250 years ago, were forerunners in their day. According to Miles, Circuit Rider is a post-­‐‑modern nod to these leaders who lived for a cause greater than themselves. “We, as musicians, are traveling Circuit Riders preaching every day at any place available and are always on the move.”

Comprising five original compositions on this eight-­‐‑track disc, Circuit Rider marks the first time Miles recorded an album with the same group twice. This time around, Miles could hear the band in the songwriting process. “We discovered songs together,” says Miles. “Their astounding capacity for playing impacted how I approached the music. When you have musicians as perceptive and responsive as Bill Frisell and Brian Blade, the music just takes off!”

Sharing a fondness for striking melody, musical economy, and the importance of individual timbre, these three genre-­‐‑defying musical masters are highly respected leaders with expansive discographies and projects covering a wide spectrum of contemporary music. Their collective playing reflects the landscape that is implicit in Circuit Rider; all three giving a certain folk-­‐‑like context to Ron’s original compositions. Denver-­‐‑based Ron Miles and Bill Frisell (a partnership that dates back to the mid-­‐‑90s) both exude the Old West, while Brian Blade’s breezy sophistication and jagged rhythms salute his native Louisiana.

Like its predecessor Quiver, Circuit Rider showcases a selection of carefully chosen cover songs. Synthesizing the past are rearrangements of Jimmy Giuffre’s “Two Kinds of Blues,” as well as both “Jive Five Floor Four,” and “Reincarnation Of A Lovebird” by the trio’s hero Charles Mingus. Producer Hans Wendl and engineer Colin Bricker ensure again that the recording quality do justice to the high level of the musical performances.

'Ron Miles is one of the finest trumpeters in jazz today. I can’t come up with a compelling reason why he should be anything other than a major name.' (JazzTimes)

'Miles plays brilliantly, singing the melodies with a tone bright and vocalized, tinged with melancholy...' (Down Beat)

Ron Miles, cornet
Bill Frisell, guitar
Brian Blade, drums

Tracklist:
9:07 | 01. Ron Miles - Comma (feat. Bill Frisell & Brian Blade)
6:56 | 02. Ron Miles - Jive Five (feat. Bill Frisell & Brian Blade)
5:00 | 03. Ron Miles - The Flesh Is Weak (feat. Bill Frisell & Brian Blade)
8:50 | 04. Ron Miles - Dancing Close and Slow (feat. Bill Frisell & Brian Blade)
4:56 | 05. Ron Miles - Circuit Rider (feat. Bill Frisell & Brian Blade)
7:07 | 06. Ron Miles - Reincarnation of a Lovebird (feat. Bill Frisell & Brian Blade)
5:05 | 07. Ron Miles - Angelina (feat. Bill Frisell & Brian Blade)
9:41 | 08. Ron Miles - Two Kinds of Blues (feat. Bill Frisell & Brian Blade)