My favorite new CD (besides Ornette Coleman’s “Sound Grammar,” which I told you about last time) is actually two CDs, and realized in Colorado. Trumpeter/cornetist Ron Miles’ “Stone/Blossom” (Sterling Circle Records) is a generous, two-hour collection, with an intelligent acoustic quartet on the “Stone” portion and a moody electric rock band emanating from the “Blossom” disc. It’s also the ideal summation of Miles’ career as a leader and composer up to this point.
Miles’ music has always been difficult to pin down or even describe. Earlier discs on the Gramavision label allowed his distinctive, forlorn trumpet to float above searing electric guitars, and more recent discs for the Boulder-based Sterling Circle label (Miles is apparently the only artist on their roster) have displayed something more introspective, but always with a hint of menace scratching beneath the prettified surfaces of the compositions. “Stone/Blossom” is where the opposing sides of Miles’ persona reach out and shake hands. And it looks to be a strong friendship.
“Stone” is the quieter disc, but it isn’t just a drowsy set of worn-out standards. Miles’ trumpet takes enough left turns on the slow, stretched-out “Cupid” to demonstrate that he’s interested in the meditative space of ballads as a place to explore and not to necessarily engage in romantic clichés. Like Miles, pianist Eric Gunnison, who shines here, plays inside pleasantries as easily as he can drift into cacophony. He’s the ideal foil for the trumpeter as they revel in this head-meets-heart material.
Drummer Rudy Royston has been present on the majority of Miles’ discs for the past decade, and aside from the leader he’s the sole participant on both halves. A subtle player with intuition to spare, he gives “Stone” and “Blossom” their quiet fire. “Blossom” is a different entity from the first disc in that Miles seems to be heading up a simmering instrumental jazz-rock band, not entirely unlike the revered group Tortoise (but with a sweeter edge) or the more extroverted outings of his sometime employer, guitarist Bill Frisell. Roger Green, who plays guitar here and with whom I was unfamiliar until now, seems well acclimated to Frisell’s vocabulary of rubbery twists and turns.
Since Miles is a child of the ’70s, why shouldn’t he claim the radio hits of his generation as his own? He takes on the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” in a heart-tugging rendition. There’s a foray into the Partridge Family’s (!) “I Woke Up in Love This Morning,” which has always been out there, waiting for an accordion-drenched reinvention. He discovers refreshing harmonic territory in these AM radio hits. Do I hear a follow-up disc of Bee Gees songs?
It says something about Miles as a bandleader and composer that his strongest tracks are also the lengthiest: “Small Town Hero” is hypnotic instrumental folk (or some such thing) and if you stick around for all 15 minutes of “Sleepyhead,” you’ll discover that this is no serene trip to dreamland. It ends up as an entertainingly disturbed slumber. The group he’s assembled for “Blossom” is as cohesive as it is fun.
On “Stone,” there’s a drawn- out, exploratory track titled “Letter Grade,” with exemplary communication among all of the group’s members, and particularly sensitive statements from Miles and Gunnison, dutifully supported by Royston and bassist Kent McLagan. Miles teaches in the music department at Metropolitan State College, and he likely issues letter grades but (I imagine) rarely receives them. So let’s give “Stone/Blossom” an “A” for execution and originality. He’ll receive deserved national attention for this, but you can say you knew about it first.
Set list
Multi-saxophone dynamo James Carter, a remarkably versatile player, takes to the stage Friday at Greeley’s Union Colony Civic Center. Call 970-356-5000 for tickets … trumpeter Hugh Ragin leads the Latin All Stars on Friday at the Back Room … the acclaimed singer Karrin Allyson is scheduled Saturday at the Soiled Dove … the Bottesino Project features saxophones, electronics and pedal steel guitar in its arsenal. The outfit will appear Nov. 5 at Dazzle.
Bret Saunders’ column on jazz appears every other Sunday in A&E. Saunders is host of the “KBCO Morning Show,” 5:30-10 a.m. weekdays at 97.3-FM. His e-mail address is bret_saunders@hotmail.com.
