Old Main Chapel (Live) Ron Miles

• 1 Mr. Kevin (Live) 11:55
• 2 There Ain't No Sweet Man that's Worth the Salt of My Tears (Live) 12:30
• 3 Guest Of Honor (Live) 10:14
• 4 Queen B (Live) 12:34
• 5 Rudy-Go-Round (Live) 13:03
• 6 I Will Be Free (Live) 06:37
• 7 New Medium (Live) 11:08
• Total Runtime 01:18:01

Info for Old Main Chapel (Live)

Experience the enchanting live performance captured in Old Main Chapel (Live at Boulder, Co / 2011) by Ron Miles, released by Blue Note. This album showcases the exceptional talent of jazz trumpeter Ron Miles as he delivers a mesmerizing performance at the historic Old Main Chapel in Boulder, Colorado.

Listeners are treated to a captivating musical journey as Ron Miles and his ensemble skillfully blend elements of traditional jazz with contemporary influences. The intimate setting of the Old Main Chapel adds a unique ambiance to the recording, allowing the audience to feel as though they are part of this unforgettable live experience.

When Miles passed away at 58 years old in March 2022 from a rare blood disorder he had just made his debut as a leader at the Village Vanguard in September 2021—the first performer to play in front of an audience at the legendary New York City jazz club following the COVID lockdown—and was planning to record the follow-up to his acclaimed 2020 Blue Note debut Rainbow Sign. In a New York Times review of the Village Vanguard performance Giovanni Russonello wrote “Miles has spent most of his life in Denver and has only recently begun to garner the heavy national attention he was due,” adding that he “has a dusty and unvarnished sound on cornet that hints at his Rocky Mountain roots, and unlike your typical high-brass improviser, he hardly ever resorts to flash or big pronouncements.”

Old Main Chapel was recorded live at the venue of the same name in Boulder, Colorado on September 21, 2011, the night before the trio would go into the studio to record their debut album Quiver. The seven-track set presents six of Miles’ indelible original compositions including longer versions of five pieces that would appear on Quiver, as well as the stunning “I Will Be Free” and beguiling “New Medium.” The album was produced for release by Miles’ longtime manager and producer Hans Wendl and the liner notes include heartfelt remembrances by Frisell, Blade, pianist and frequent collaborator Jason Moran, Blue Note President Don Was, and Ron’s daughter Justice Miles.

“On September 21, 2011, the conditions were perfect in Boulder, Colorado,” observes Moran. “Ron Miles gathered his trio of Bill Frisell and Brian Blade, formed just the previous year, to premiere his freshly penned compositions. This is precisely how Ron orchestrated a moment. The band stepped onstage to explore the songs. Each piece crawls through the band and out into the audience. Not a soul in the room knew how the music would start or finish. Within this unpredictable air, Ron’s trust saturated everyone as he guided the proud angels through his intricately melodic world.”

“I think back and smile and bubble with joy at how rare a being Ron was in this world,” muses Blade. “Ron was a deep cut, yet so accessible and every note counted and communicated grace and mercy and fire and passion and all the things we loved about the man himself.”

“It was always a pleasure to speak with him because he overflowed with a positive energy that stuck with you long after the conversation ended,” recalls Was. “The warmth and grace we hear in his writing and playing is an extension of that incredible spirit. Anyone can pick up an instrument and play some notes but the ability to make transformative music is rare. Ron possessed that gift in abundance. He passed thru this world for just a short time but left behind a recorded treasure of eternal beauty and revelation.”

Ron Miles, trumpet
Bill Frisell, guitar
Brian Blade, drums

Ron Miles
was born on May 9, 1963, in Indianapolis, Indiana, and moved with his family to Denver when he was 11 years old. Soon after he began playing trumpet and studied both classical and jazz. He went on to study music at the University of Denver, University of Colorado Boulder, and the Manhattan School of Music. In 1987, Ron released Distance for Safety, the first of a dozen albums he would make over the next 35 years including such critically acclaimed works as Heaven (2002), Quiver (2012), and I Am A Man (2017). Ron received a GRAMMY nomination for his performance on Joshua Redman’s 2018 album Still Dreaming. Miles also led a distinguished and lengthy career in music education as a Professor of Music at the Metropolitan State University of Denver where he had taught since the late 1990s.

Miles’ final album was his Blue Note Records debut, Rainbow Sign, which was released in 2020 and featured an extraordinary quintet with Frisell, Moran, Blade, and bassist Thomas Morgan. Written in tribute to Ron’s father Fay Dooney Miles, who had passed away in 2018, DownBeat called it “a deeply touching album” and “by far Miles’ most impressive work as a bandleader.”

Bill Frisell
Bill’s career as a guitarist and composer has spanned more than 40 years and many celebrated recordings, whose catalog has been cited by Downbeat as "the best recorded output of the decade."

In recent years, Frisell has forged a distinctive and fruitful collaboration with the Blue Note label, releasing HARMONY, Valentine and FOUR to great acclaim.

"Frisell has had a lot of practice putting high concept into a humble package. Long hailed as one of the most distinctive and original improvising guitarists of our time, he has also earned a reputation for teasing out thematic connections with his music... There’s a reason that Jazz at Lincoln Center had him program a series called Roots of Americana." - New York Times

Recognized as one of America’s 21 most vital and productive performing artists, Frisell was named an inaugural Doris Duke Artist in 2012. He is also a recipient of grants from United States Artists, Meet the Composer among others. In 2016, he was a beneficiary of the first FreshGrass Composition commission to preserve and support innovative grassroots music. Upon San Francisco Jazz opening their doors in 2013, he served as one of their Resident Artistic Directors.

Bill is the subject of a documentary film by director Emma Franz, entitled Bill Frisell: A Portrait, which examines his creative process in depth, as well as an extensive biography by Philip Watson, Beautiful Dreamer: The Guitarist Who Changed The Sound of American Music.

Brian Blade
A native of Shreveport, Louisiana, Brian Blade established himself as a versatile, accomplished drummer early in his career, appearing on albums by the likes of Joshua Redman, Kenny Garrett, and Bob Dylan. Blade released his first album, Brian Blade Fellowship, at the age of 27 in 1998 and followed two years later with Perceptual, both on Blue Note. Always an in-demand sideman and collaborator, Blade continued to find work with a varied bevy of artists, including Joni Mitchell, Bill Frisell, and Wayne Shorter. Ten years after releasing his first album as the Brian Blade Fellowship, Blade returned with Season of Changes in 2008, this time on Verve. A year later he released the solo Americana, singer/songwriter effort Mama Rosa for the label.

At the beginning of 2014, the BBF band re-signed with Blue Note in a cooperative deal with the Shreveport, Louisiana-based Mid-City Records. Their fourth album together, Landmarks, was issued in April of 2014. The quintet was augmented by guitarists Marvin Sewell and Jeff Parker.

This album contains no booklet.