The name of this tune is “Illuminator” and it comes from Ron’s 2006 double album “Stone/Blossom” (Sterling Circle Records). I picked this tune specifically because it has a country flavor and, because Ron is a Midwesterner (living in Denver since he was a kid), I thought that this country flavor might help listeners determine that this was not another East Coast or West Coast trumpet player, but perhaps someone in between. I like Ron Miles’ trumpet playing and music a lot. I think he is a truly singular artist. The first album of his that I bought was his 1996 (Grammavision) record “My Cruel Heart.” On first listen I thought it was cool and then put it away for a while. The next time I played the CD I started to really get into it (love it when that happens with an album – lost but rediscovered!) and then I went out and bought all of his other records as a leader and some where he is a sideman, specifically Bill Frisell’s albums (I’m a big Frisell fan too – another guy who spent time in Denver).
Ron Miles is kind of a weird trumpet player. He can get a really beautiful and pure trumpet sound and play some really pretty lines. And he can certainly play straight ahead jazz, swinging and threading changes. But he also flirts with avant-garde styles and is a master of some of the trumpet’s extended techniques. The crazy thing is, he might do all of this in the space of one song. And for my money, I think he can usually pull it off. His albums as a leader have been pretty varied and I would count him as one of those artists whose music I would buy as soon as it comes out. That’s high praise from me because I’m cheap :).
I wrote to Ron Miles a while back and told him that I would love to come to Denver to take a lesson from him. He wrote back, was very nice, and said yes. I have an aunt and an uncle in Denver who I’ve wanted to visit for some time now. Hopefully soon I can get out there, visit with some family, and hook up with Mr. Miles. I think it would be an awesome trip.
So, thanks to all of you who gave this track a listen. It seemed as though at first that I had picked a player who is too obscure (one listener really didn’t like the track – and that’s cool. I appreciated the honesty, for sure). But Ian nailed it. I’ll have an easier Guess The Trumpet Player this week so stay tuned.
Ever made your own CD and then sold it online? How much money did you make? Enough to pay for the recording, design, and manufacturing? Did you make enough selling your CD to pay your bills? Here’s an interesting graphic that I first saw a while back while reading the blog of the very talented Bay-area trumpeter Ian Carey. If the graphic is hard to read, click on this link http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2010/how-much-do-music-artists-earn-online/ If you are so inclined, see below for my take on this.
I’m not really sure how to feel about this graphic and what it tells us, but I can’t help but feel that it isn’t too encouraging. Who is making all the money here? It doesn’t appear to be the musicians. How are musicians supposed to afford to document their music if they are not going to make enough money to even pay for the recording, let alone attempt to support themselves (most musicians aren’t earning enough income from performances alone to survive)? And then why should anyone even try?
I keep sensing a trend lately: more and more, people don’t want to pay for music; they think it should be free. And honestly, if you really want an album and don’t want to pay for it, you will, with a fairly painless Google search, be able to find that album somewhere and download it for free. It’s happening everywhere, all the time. I’ve read some “industry” press recently that is telling me that I should strongly consider just giving away my music because that’s the direction the business is moving in anyway. They tell me that it’s better to just get your music and your name out there. But if I can’t count on making any money back on a self-produced album (no ECM or Blue Note contract in my near future) how can I afford to fund this album? But without that CD how can I get bookings for my group(s), or press? It’s a tricky situation. And I don’t know what the solution is.
Seems like the only solution is to save my money, rehearse an ensemble, pay for the recording and mixing and mastering, pay the musicians, pay for a designer, pay for the manufacturing….and then give it away for free. Because at least then people will hear it. Hmmm. That seems kinda shitty. Oh well. Guess I better start saving a percentage of my gig money. And when I do make another album, maybe I’ll do the Radiohead thing and just ask people to pay me (directly – learning my lesson from the above graphic) what they want for it. Can’t hurt, I guess. Not trying to be a downer here, but this is something I’ve been thinking about lately. I’ll have a cheerier, more upbeat post tomorrow!
