Laughing Barrel

Laughing Barrel Artist: Ron Miles Quartet
Label: Sterling Circle
Category: Music



Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 803635121924
EAN: 0803635121924
ASIN: B00008PX2D


Release Date: 2003-03-25

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Listmania:

  1. Great Guitarists, Most of Whom You've Never Heard (Of)
  2. Best of the Nu Jazz, Part II
  3. Heartland Jazz

Tracks:

  1. Parade
  2. New Breed Leader
  3. Psychedelic Black Man
  4. Still Small Voice
  5. Jesus Loves Me
  6. Sunday Best
  7. Fairy Court

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Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars Barely Jazz?.......2006-01-09

I am a big fan of Bill Frisell and have heard the work of Ron Miles on several of his CD's, the most recent being "Blues Dream"
I was expecting a little more than what I heard on this CD. Miles's trumpet comes off sounding somewhat bland and I found his arrangments repetitious. There are some nice musical ideas here but they dont seem to go anywhere. There is one cut on which the guitar player (who uses his sound effects to excess) seems to be completely out of tune with the rest of the group.I would not classify this as jazz in a strict sense.


4 out of 5 stars Talent deserving wider recognition........2004-08-18

Subtle seems the best way to describe the music of Ron Miles. Primarily known as trumpet-playing sideman to guitarist Bill Frisell and as arranger for Ginger Baker's recent jazz projects, Ron Miles has come into his own as a writer and composer. His take on melody, harmony and rhythm can all be described as subtle. But that is certainly not meant to sell his music short. For the attentive listener, Miles' music reveals endless rewards.

This scaled-down quartet date retains similarities with his final Grammavision release Woman's Day. Ruddy Royston's polyrhythmic drumming and Anthony Cox's sturdy bass support Miles' melodic trumpet excursions. But it is in guitarist Brandon Ross' bag of effects pedals that we hear the sound of surprise. His guitar tone and solo approach varies with practically each piece. The sweetly melodic accompaniment of the opening pastoral ballad "Parade" is contrasted with his distorted solo on the following "New Breed Leader". Although there is sonic variety, this is no post-modern, stylistic grab bag. Miles' writing is, as with the best jazz writers, distinctly his own.

Borrowing heavily from laid back Midwestern country and soulful, mellow swing, Miles' music sounds like a distant cousin to Frisell's own recent excursions into the sound of the heartland. "Sunday best" could easily be mistaken for the sort of catchy tune Frisell himself would pen. But where Frisell has recently strayed from more discordant and edgy material, Miles' seems unafraid of occasionally venturing forth into the maelstrom.

The quartet's experimental edge is best exemplified by the closing track, "Fairy Court", an ostinato-driven free-form jam, with a cooking rhythm section and killer guitar and trumpet work to boot. Wah-wah guitar and plaintive trumpet ride over a steadily rising backbeat during "Psychedelic Blackman". Although more energetic than the other pieces on the album, these are definitely highlights.

Ron Miles is not an especially well-known player in today's jazz scene. Being based out of Colorado can have that effect on a contemporary jazz artist. But don't let that stop you from checking him out. His work deserves wider recognition.

(This review was originally written for the online webzine: junkmedia.org, and was published there April 29, 2003)

5 out of 5 stars Beautiful stealth "out" jazz.......2003-11-04

I'm totally blown away by this disc. What intelligence! What glorious, off-kilter, unfettered jamming! What brilliant (though in no way show-offish) compositions! What stunning group improv!

Listen. This is it. So what if Ron Miles, trumpeter extraordinare, resides in that Western cow-town, Denver, CO? So what if his band is relatively unknown? So what if this disc is on Sterling Circle Records (Wha . . . )? These guys can play. The revelation, for me, is Rudy Royston (Who?) on drums. Check him out on "New Breed Leader," ostensibly a post-bop workout, but in reality an ultra-hip, fluidly swinging, unclassifiable number. Royston's all over his kit, providing deep grooves even as he rhythmically deconstructs this intriguing number. Brandon Ross, e-guitar, also provides some unbelievable fireworks. Sounding like a cross between Jimi Hendrix and Pat Metheny circa Off-Ramp, he lets loose with a frenetic though thoroughly controlled blast of healing e-guitar indecipherability. When Royston comes in for his solo two-thirds of the way through, things reach critical mass. Bam! Splat! Shimmer! He blasts through the sonic sound barrier with warp-drive percussion madness. Controlled sonic mayhem, that's one plausible description.

Brandon Ross--why does the name resonate just behind consciousness?--takes center stage on the next number, "Psychedelic Black Man" (Ahem), with sustained wah-wah incredulity. That morphs into some incredibly beautiful balladic contemplation: "Still Small Voice" and "Jesus Loves Me," each of which, in their own way, showcases the leader's rich, burnished open trumpet playing. The dialogic interplay between guitar and trumpet on the latter provides unlooked-for sonic balm and opens the way for Anthony Cox, surely one of the great acoustic jazz bassists on the scene today, to bring it all together in a revelatory and mesmeric bass solo, which in turn leads into a great sprung-rhythm out solo from Miles, undergirt by sympathetic support from the band.

The next to last cut, "Sunday Best," a simple-sounding though very sophisticated number, proves Ron Miles can do just about anything. Graced with an impossibly catchy tune, succinct, evocative, I'm left with an uncontrollable desire to hit the "repeat" button. "Fairy Court," the last and perhaps most "normal" number here, nevertheless contains some weird restless energy magnificently uncovered by Brandon Ross's stunningly ideosyncratic guitar solo and continued by a free passage that somehow makes complete sense.

Yes, this isn't your normal jazz outing, But there's nothing to fear. What we have here is simply gorgeous, original, nearly a-referential, modern music. Not to be missed.

4 out of 5 stars Junkmedia.org Review - Check him out!.......2003-04-29

Subtle seems the best way to describe the music of Ron Miles. Primarily known as trumpet-playing sideman to guitarist Bill Frisell and as arranger for Ginger Baker's recent jazz projects, Ron Miles has come into his own as a writer and composer. His take on melody, harmony and rhythm can all be described as subtle. But that is certainly not meant to sell his music short. For the attentive listener, Miles' music reveals endless rewards.

This scaled-down quartet date retains similarities with his final Grammavision release Woman's Day. Ruddy Royston's polyrhythmic drumming and Anthony Cox's sturdy bass support Miles' melodic trumpet excursions. But it is in guitarist Brandon Ross' bag of effects pedals that we hear the sound of surprise. His guitar tone and solo approach varies with practically each piece. The sweetly melodic accompaniment of the opening pastoral ballad "Parade" is contrasted with his distorted solo on the following "New Breed Leader". Although there is sonic variety, this is no post-modern, stylistic grab bag. Miles' writing is, as with the best jazz writers, distinctly his own.

Borrowing heavily from laid back Midwestern country and soulful, mellow swing, Miles' music sounds like a distant cousin to Frisell's own recent excursions into the sound of the heartland. "Sunday best" could easily be mistaken for the sort of catchy tune Frisell himself would pen. But where Frisell has recently strayed from more discordant and edgy material, Miles' seems unafraid of occasionally venturing forth into the maelstrom.

The quartet's experimental edge is best exemplified by the closing track, "Fairy Court", an ostinato-driven free-form jam, with a cooking rhythm section and killer guitar and trumpet work to boot. Wah-wah guitar and plaintive trumpet ride over a steadily rising backbeat during "Psychedelic Blackman". Although more energetic than the other pieces on the album, these are definitely highlights.

Ron Miles is not an especially well-known player in today's jazz scene. Being based out of Colorado can have that effect on a contemporary jazz artist. But don't let that stop you from checking him out. His work deserves wider recognition.

Troy Collins
Junkmedia.org Review

Music CD:

  1. Nights at the Vanguard ~ Tommy Flanagan
  2. The Mad Hatter ~ Chick Corea
  3. Handmade ~ David Berkman
  4. A Fickle Sonance ~ Jackie McLean
  5. Jazz Is ~ Tim Warfield
  6. Al Grey and Dave Burns Sessions ~ Bobby Hutcherson
  7. Tribute to Miles ~ Various Artists
  8. Miami Vice: The Complete Collection ~ Jan Hammer
  9. Burnin' ~ Herb Ellis
  10. Inolvidable ~ Candido & Graciela

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

The Matador/Vitamin D ~ D-Stroy

Gray Daze: No Sun Today ~ Grey Daze

Wreck of the Day ~ Anna Nalick

Palvoline No. 7 ~ The Paladins

We've Met an Impasse: By Midninght Well Be Naked ~ Inventing Edward

Visiones/Confianza ~ Windsor for the Derby

Zipped Up & Down: Zip Records Sampler ~ Various Artists

Small Mercies ~ David Knopfler

Ain't No Other ~ MC Lyte

Lessons/How Low ~ R.A. the Rugged Man