If there’s a ‘less is more’ school of trumpeters, the late Ron Miles would be its leading purveyor. He never resorted to, shouting, or pull-you-from-your-seat stratospheric fare. He played like the best of the ballad singers, almost like a Nat King Cole of the instrument, warmly, sensitively, as if narrating a story or poem. He was always a highly textural player not only on his own albums but on those not often discussed enough, as a sideman with bluesman Otis Taylor on Definition of a Circle, Fantasizing About Being Black, and others. Arguably, Miles was just hitting his stride before his untimely passing due to a rare blood disorder at the age of 58 in 2023.
His 2020 Blue Note Rainbow Sign, recorded with Bill Frisell, Jason Moran, Brian Blade, and Thomas Morgan, was Miles’ best and, sadly, final recording. On this posthumous live album, recorded in 2011, Old Main Chapel, recorded at the venue of the same name, in Boulder, CO. Miles is playing a conventional trumpet. Still, his crystalline tone and rootsy, unvarnished approach later applied to his custom cornet were already in place. The album includes remembrances by Frisell, Blade, Moran, Blue Note President Don Was, and Miles’ daughter, Justice Miles.
The concert took place shortly after this same trio of guitarist Frisell and drummer Blade recorded their debut, Quiver. This set presents six of Miles’ originals, including longer versions of five that appeared on Quiver, as well as the jaw-dropping “I Will Be Free” and the enthralling “New Medium.” In a sense, this is Quiver live. At the time of that album Miles stated that the more familiar he is with the tune, the less he needs to play, instead leaving it to his bandmates and to the listener to fill in the blanks. Few are better at that than Frisell and Blade.
Like several of Bill Frisell’s ensembles since that time, the absence of a bassist clearly opens plenty of space. Frisell and Miles grew up together in Denver and had played in duos and other contexts. Frisell had also played with Blade before, but this represents the first time the three gathered as a trio. Opener “Mr. Kevin’ has a languorous, Americana feel to it, mostly through the twang in Frisell’s axe as Miles states the melody in clear, ringing tones. It’s a relaxed way to open a performance but certainly not of character for these three. The tempo picks up in the second half behind a slow groove and a larger presence from Blade, who often serves as a third harmonic voice than merely as a timekeeper. The synergy between Frisell and Miles is immediately evident, reflecting and refracting each other’s lines. Blade’s dramatic mallets introduce a tune from the late’20s, “There Ain’t no Sweet Man That’s Worth the Salt of My Tears” in haunting style, but when Frisell and Miles join, it morphs into an updated, syncopated blues, The bluesy passages grow in intensity right to the conclusion, which surprisingly eases out quietly, like a long, sustained whisper.
“Guest of Honor” is named after a lost Scott Joplin opera. As such, it suggests ragtime, but those references are not overtly obvious in this slowed-down elegant take with simpatico unison passages of trumpet and guitar and the feisty trading between them in the last two minutes highlighting the piece. “Queen B” is pensive and dreamy, as Miles uses a mute, and Blade trades his sticks for brushes and light cymbal swipes. Miles leads the melody with Frisell, punctuating with chiming notes and chords that give this one the most spacious quality in the set. That atmosphere quickly dissipates on the angular “Rudy Go-Round,” named for lifelong Denverite friend and drummer Rudy Royston. Blade is masterful in start-stop rhythms and the trio adopts an energetic, unleashed avant posture here with lots of risk-taking improvisation.
In “I Will Be Free,” Miles’ trumpet has the ringing, emotive quality of a fervent gospel singer while Frisell, eminently comfortable with this kind of fare, consistently embellishes the melody. “New Medium” begins with a highly creative percussive intro from Blade, but eventually moves into captivating uncharted territory, marked by decisive rhythmic surges, leaving the highly engaged audience (and likely you the listener) rather awe-struck. These are intense conversations, a fitting ode to the late Ron Miles.
