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Barry Miles

 
Artist: Barry Miles
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists

Influenced By:

Hampton Hawes, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Red Norvo, Shelly Manne

Worked With:

Buddy Williams, Terry Silverlight, Jeff Mironov, Anthony Jackson, Steve Gadd, Al di Meola, Randy Brecker, Roberta Flack
  • Born: March 28, 1947, Newark, NJ
  • Active: '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s
  • Genres: Jazz
  • Instrument: Vibraphone, Keyboards, Drums
  • Representative Albums: "White Heat," "Scatbird," "Miles of Genius"

Biography

Barry Miles was considered a child prodigy: he began playing drums when he was three, piano at five and joined the Musicians Union when he was nine. Miles played drums professionally from the age of ten, including sitting in with the Woody Herman Orchestra. At age 12, he recorded his first album as a leader on drums, leading a sextet that included pianist Duke Jordan. As a teenager, he studied classical piano and soon switched instruments. Originally a bop-oriented player, Miles leaned towards fusion by the late 1960s, often playing electric piano and synthesizer. He led Silverlight for several years (his sidemen at various times included Woody Shaw, John Abercrombie and Al DiMeola), worked as Roberta Flack's musical director in the early 1980s, and became a studio musician in New York. Although he periodically pops up on records, Miles has not yet lived up to his great potential as a major jazz improviser. Miles has led albums for the Charlie Parker label (1959-60), Venture (1967), Poppy (1970), Mainstream (1972), London (1974) and Gryphon (1977). ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Barry Miles
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Barry Miles.

Barry Miles (or "Miles", born 1943, Cirencester, England) is a British author, luminary of the 1960s underground and businessman. In the 1960s, he was co-owner of the Indica Gallery and helped start the International Times.

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Life and work

In the 1960s, Miles was co-owner of the Indica Gallery, allowing him to meet many of the stars of the Swinging London social scene. Miles brought Paul McCartney into contact with people who wanted to start the International Times, which McCartney helped to fund.[1] Miles would later become de facto manager of the Apple's short-lived Zapple Records label, and wrote McCartney's official biography, Many Years from Now (1998).

In 1965, he lived at 15 Hanson Street, London, where Miles and his wife introduced McCartney to Hash Brownies by using a recipe for Hash fudge which they had found in The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook.[2]

With John Hopkins, Miles organized The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, a concert on 29 April 1967 Alexandra Palace to raise funds for the International Times. It was a multi-artist event, featuring poets, artists and musicians. Pink Floyd headlined the event; other artists included: Yoko Ono and John Lennon, Arthur Brown, jazz-rock group Soft Machine, Tomorrow and The Pretty Things.

Miles' book Hippie is a reminiscence of the hippie sub-culture from the sixties to the early seventies with interviews, quotes, and images. He co-wrote I Want to Take You Higher (documenting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit by the same name) with Charles Perry and James Henke.

Miles has criticized musicians who speak out in support of libertarian and or pro-capitalist attitudes[citation needed]. Artists he has clashed with include left-wing classical liberals such as Neil Peart of the Canadian band Rush[citation needed]. An article about Rush written by Barry Miles in the 4 March 1978 edition of the UK's New Musical Express contained vehement[citation needed] attacks. Miles' book about Frank Zappa also sharply criticized Zappa's Laissez-faire liberal views toward business and labor unions[citation needed]. The views of such musicians contrast sharply with Miles' socialist and collectivist outlook[citation needed].

Miles has written biographies of Paul McCartney, The Beatles, William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Frank Zappa, Charles Bukowski and Allen Ginsberg, in addition to books on John Lennon, The Beatles and The Clash.[3][4]

He is occasionally inaccurately credited as "Miles Mabbett", due to his co-authoring a book with Andy Mabbett, often listed as "by Miles and Andy Mabbett" [1], [2].

Notes and references

  1. ^ Miles, p232
  2. ^ Miles, p233
  3. ^ Amazon Review of Many Years from Now Amazon.com, 4 November 2005. Retrieved on 14 September 2007
  4. ^ Miles, Barry (1981). The Clash. London; New York: Omnibus Press. OCLC 7676911. 

Bibliography

External links

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Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Barry Miles".  Read more

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