Jason Miles (born June 30, 1951) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

keyboardist, composer, and record producer. Throughout his career, he has worked with trumpeter

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

, bassist

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonists Wayne Shorter and David Sa ...

, and singer

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...

, as well as maintaining a successful solo career.

Career

Miles was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York City, and went to

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

. When

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

was becoming popular in the 1970s, Miles was in New York creating innovative techniques in synthesizer programming and electronic music. He recorded ''Cozmopolitan'' (1979), his first album, with

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in ...

and

, although it wasn't released. During the 1980s he was a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

who worked with

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (July 30, 1945 – May 12, 2024) was an American alto saxophonist. He worked in many musical genres; his solo recordings typically blended jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He began playing the saxophone at the age o ...

, and

. During the 1990s, he played keyboards on ''I'm Your Baby Tonight'' by Whitney Houston, ''The Power of Love'' by Luther Vandross, and ''HIStory'' by Michael Jackson. He wrote music for the animated film ''The Snow Queen'' and ''People: A Musical Celebration of Diversity'' on the Disney Channel. He and his wife Kathy Byalick composed ''Visionary Path'', a New Age album with narration by

Diana Krall Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, ''Billboard (magazi ...

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...

, and F. Murray Abraham. In 2000 Miles released ''The Music of Weather Report'', the first of several tribute albums. During the next year he won a Grammy Award for producing ''A Love Affair: The Music of Ivan Lins'' with appearances by

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

and

Brenda Russell Brenda Russell (née Gordon; born April 8, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. Russell has a diverse musical range which encompasses Rhythm and blues, R&B, pop music, pop, soul music, soul, dance music, dance, and ...

. His next solo album ''To Grover, with Love'', was a tribute to Grover Washington Jr. that was nominated for Record of the Year by the National Smooth Jazz Awards. He also recorded tributes to Miles Davis and

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

Discography

* ''World Tour'' (Lipstick LIP-89021, 1994) * ''Mr. X'' (Lightyear 54170, 1996) * ''Visionary Path: Guided Journeys for the Mind and Spirit'' (Prophesy 4042, 1997) * ''Celebrating the Music of

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer Alphonse Mouzon a ...

'' (

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long assoc ...

83473, 2000) * ''A Love Affair: The Music of

Ivan Lins Ivan Guimarães Lins (born 16 June 1945) is a Latin Grammy-winning Brazilian musician. He has been an active performer and songwriter of Brazilian popular music (MPB) and jazz for over fifty years. His first hit, "Madalena", was recorded by ...

'' (Telarc 83496, 2000) * ''To Grover, with Love'' Grover Washington Jr."> tribute to Grover Washington Jr.(Q Records 92945, 2001; ARTizen 10014, 2006) * ''Brazilian Nights: Rio Wave'' (Q Records 92961, 2002; Turn Up the Music 1051, 2005) - with Romero Lubambo * ''Cozmopolitan'' (Turn Up the Music 1053, 2005) rec. 1979 * ''Miles to Miles: In the Spirit of

'' ( Narada Jazz 78136, 2005) * ''What's Going On? Songs of

'' (Narada Jazz 33338, 2006) * ''Global Noize'' ( Shanachie 5160, 2008) - with

DJ Logic DJ Logic (born Lee Jason Kibler, 1972) is an American DJ primarily known for his work in nu-jazz, acid-jazz, and with jam bands. Life and career Born and raised in The Bronx, New York, Kibler displayed an early interest in hip hop, funk, an ...

* ''Soul Summit: Live at the Berks Jazz Fest!'' (Shanachie 5770, 2008) * ''2 Grover with Love'' (

Koch Koch may refer to: People * Koch (surname), people with this surname * Koch dynasty, a dynasty in Assam and Bengal, north east India * Koch family * Koch people (or Koche), an ethnic group originally from the ancient Koch kingdom in north east In ...

KOC-4536, 2008) * ''A Prayer for the Planet'' (Art of Groove/MIG 80132, 2011) - with 'Global Noize' * ''Kind of New'' (

Whaling City Sound Whaling City Sound is an independent jazz record label established by Neal Weiss in 1999. History Weiss is president of Fiber Optic Center in New Bedford, Massachusetts. A lifelong fan of jazz, he started Whaling City Sound as a jazz label, thou ...

WCS-073, 2015) - with

Ingrid Jensen Ingrid Jensen (born January 12, 1966) is a Canadian jazz trumpeter. Music career Jensen was born in North Vancouver and grew up in Nanaimo. She received a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. After graduating from Berklee, she ...

* ''To Grover with Love: Live in Japan'' (Whaling City Sound WCS-078, 2016) rec. 2010 * ''Kind of New 2: Blue is Paris'' (Lightyear, 2017) * ''Black Magic'' ( Ropeadope RAD-529, 2020) - with 'Kind of New' * ''The Artistry and Volume of Efrayim Fischbacher'' ( Regal, 2022)

References

External links

Jason Miles Interview at NAMM Oral History Library (2016)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Jason 1951 births Living people Musicians from Brooklyn American jazz composers American male jazz composers Jazz musicians from New York (state)