picture of Barry Miles
Barry Miles
Barry (* 1947 in Newark, NJ) is a pianist, record producer, and author. He joined the musicians union at age nine in 1956 as a child prodigy drummer/pianist/vibist appearing with Miles Davis and John Coltrane among other talents of the day. He made his solo artist debut recording at age fourteen in 1961, "Miles Of Genius", as drummer and composer with sidemen Al Hall and Duke Jordan. Barry continued to perform with his own band in the early 1960s in which he composed the material that enabled up and coming talents such as Woody Shaw, Eddie Gómez and Robin Kenyatta to display their talents.
 
He wrote the instruction book, "Twelve Themes With Improvisations", published in 1963 by Belwin-Mills.
 
While a student at Princeton University, Barry concentrated his efforts on his piano playing, recording a live album in 1966 entitled Barry Miles Presents His Syncretic Compositions. He applied the philosophical term "syncretic" to music, defining the process of melding any combination of musical influences and styles together in the improvisational jazz idiom with originality. The combination of Barry's early jazz influences, his early Rock and Roll background from the late 1950s and early 1960s, and his innovative "melting pot of musical styles" concept, resulted in this recording.
 
Barry followed this release in 1969 with the eponymously titled album, Barry Miles, incorporating electric instruments including the electric piano.
 
In 1971, Barry recruited his brother Terry Silverlight on drums along with guitarists Pat Martino and John Abercrombie to record his White Heat album which is regarded as one of the pioneering fusion jazz recordings. For the next decade, Barry recorded several albums in which he developed the principle of fusing styles together in jazz.
 
In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Barry embarked upon a prolific career as a keyboardist and Minimoog soloist on many recordings in the heyday of studio work, while working as Roberta Flack's musical director for a stint that lasted fifteen years. During that time, he composed, produced and recorded songs that Flack recorded in the film Bustin' Loose, and on her album Oasis. After Al Di Meola's stint as the guitarist in Barry's band on live performances and Barry's PBS special "Fusion Suite" in 1973, a long-lasting relationship developed between Barry and Al Di Meola that resulted in Barry's frequent appearances as keyboardist on Di Meola's albums along with co-production credits.
 
In 2013, Barry released Home and Away, Volume One, his first album as a leader in 27 years.
 
from Wikipedia
contact:
homepage: www.terrysilverlight.com/BarryMiles.html
on tour Click on the logo to see Barry's tour dates.

 

Discography
Casino
CBS 82645
released 1978
recorded in New York, NY/USA
Al DiMeola, guitar, mandolin, percussion
Barry Miles, Yamaha organ, Mini Moog, piano, marimba
Anthony Jackson, bass
Steve Gadd, drums
Mingo Lewis, percussion
Eddie Colon, percussion

 
Sound Samples
MP3 n/a
Video n/a

 
 

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