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Ron Miles, a cornetist, composer, and bandleader who stood quietly within the first rank of jazz artists in this century, died on Tuesday at his home in Denver. He was 58.
The cause was complications from Polycythemia vera, a rare blood disorder, Hans Wendl, his longtime manager, tells NPR.
Miles had a warm and perfectly centered sound on cornet, with barely a trace of ferocity or flash. Through his playing, he could create the sensation of something both sturdy and precious — especially in the context of his own compositions, which combined a distinctly American harmonic palette with an openhearted emotional clarity uncommon in modern jazz.
"If you played a Ron Miles song right, in the best of moods you'd be crying," pianist Jason Moran tells NPR. "Because the songs were full. I equate it to the way John Coltrane made 'Lonnie's Lament.' He knew how to find the joy in a melody, and he knew where the heart was in it. Even just in the moment of playing them, it would just rush over you. A lot of music we play doesn't have that, it just doesn't."
That gentle yet self-assured musical temperament made Miles an ideal collaborator for guitarist Bill Frisell, in an association spanning nearly three decades, and drummer Brian Blade, in a range of combo settings. Miles led a trio with Frisell and Blade for several years, making a pair of exquisitely balanced albums. Miles and Blade also made up one-half of Still Dreaming, joining saxophonist Joshua Redman and bassist Scott Colley in a free-spirited tribute to the band Old and New Dreams, which featured Redman's father, Dewey Redman.
Ron Miles, a cornetist, composer, and bandleader who stood quietly within the first rank of jazz artists in this century, died on Tuesday at his home in Denver. He was 58.
The cause was complications from Polycythemia vera, a rare blood disorder, Hans Wendl, his longtime manager, tells NPR.
Miles had a warm and perfectly centered sound on cornet, with barely a trace of ferocity or flash. Through his playing, he could create the sensation of something both sturdy and precious — especially in the context of his own compositions, which combined a distinctly American harmonic palette with an openhearted emotional clarity uncommon in modern jazz.
"If you played a Ron Miles song right, in the best of moods you'd be crying," pianist Jason Moran tells NPR. "Because the songs were full. I equate it to the way John Coltrane made 'Lonnie's Lament.' He knew how to find the joy in a melody, and he knew where the heart was in it. Even just in the moment of playing them, it would just rush over you. A lot of music we play doesn't have that, it just doesn't."
That gentle yet self-assured musical temperament made Miles an ideal collaborator for guitarist Bill Frisell, in an association spanning nearly three decades, and drummer Brian Blade, in a range of combo settings. Miles led a trio with Frisell and Blade for several years, making a pair of exquisitely balanced albums. Miles and Blade also made up one-half of Still Dreaming, joining saxophonist Joshua Redman and bassist Scott Colley in a free-spirited tribute to the band Old and New Dreams, which featured Redman's father, Dewey Redman.
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