Born on May 9, 1963, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Ron Miles was a jazz musician whose fluent playing of cornet and trumpet have made him a very successful sideman for jazz stars and a popular bandleader with a series of well-received albums. His most popular, Circuit Rider (2014) - recorded with guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Brian Blade - reached Number 46 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart. A dedicated teacher, he was an educator at the Metropolitan State College in Denver, Colorado for more than 25 years. Raised in Denver, he started playing the trumpet in high school and studied music at the University of Denver before attending the Manhattan School of Music. After spending some time in Italy, he joined the Mercer Ellington Orchestra and performed and recorded with Bill Frisell. His recording solo debut came in 1990 with the album Witness on which he performed tunes by Thelonious Monk, Billy Strayhorn, Charles Mingus, and Fred Hass. Other releases included My Cruel Heart (1996), Woman's Day (1997), Heaven (2002), 3ology (2009) and Quiver (2012). I Am a Man (2017) featured Frisell, Blade, and bassist Thomas Morgan playing Ron Miles originals. Signing with Blue Note Records, he released the album Rainbow Sign in October 2020. Ron Miles died on March 8, 2022, at the age of 58.
