The Ron Miles Quartet

The Ron Miles Quartet: Laughing Barrel

by C. Michael Bailey
April 2, 2003

Trumpeter Ron Miles is a bit of jazz anomaly, in that he has taken to shunning the urban genres of jazz. His recent releases are all about wide-open spaces and Americana. Nowhere is this better heard than on his Sterling Circle debut, Heaven (Sterling Circle SCS 151, 2002). On this record from last year, Miles dueted with guitarist Bill Frisell, giving a quaint, homespun touch to original efforts as well as earthen treatments of Dylan’s "A Hard Rain’s A gonna ...