The Mind and Changes of Buddy Miles, 1945-2008

In 1976, I caught my first glimpse of the now legendary "Buddy" Miles when he opened the show at D.C.'s Capital Centre for Chick Corea's group Return to Forever and Carlos Santana. As I recall, the crowd began to chant rather impatiently for the headliners, blissfully unaware they were seeing the drummer of Jimi Hendrix's beloved Band of Gypsys. Undaunted, the affable Miles laughed and told the crowd that Chick and Carlos would soon be out and began to sing a line from his trademark song, "Oh my mind's been goin' through them changes". Within moments, the audience recognized the tune, Buddy rocked 'em and left the stage. Buddy Miles passed away this week in Austin, Texas at the age of 60.

Born George Allen Miles Jr. in Omaha, Nebraska, his aunt nicknamed him after the big-band drummer Buddy Rich, and began playing drums as a child and was 12 years old when he joined his father’s jazz group, the Bebops. As a teenager he also worked with soul and rhythm-and-blues acts, among them the Ink Spots, the Delfonics and Wilson Pickett. By 1967, he had moved to Chicago, where he was a founding member of the Electric Flag.

In 1967 he formed the Electric Flag with guitarist Mike Bloomfield. While the lead vocalist for the Flag was Nick Gravenites, fans of the Flag always looked forward to the numbers sung by Miles. Listen to the slow blues song "Texas" by the short-lived Flag and you will get a sense of what Miles brought to the group. Although the band collapsed in the wake of a disappointing second album, Miles retained its horn section for his next venture, the Buddy Miles Express. This exciting unit also included former Mitch Ryder guitarist Jim McCarthy. Their first album, Expressway To Your Skull, was full of driving, electric soul rhythms that had the blessing of Jimi Hendrix, who produced the album and wrote the sleeve notes.

After Electric Flag, Miles would begin his involvement with the legendary Hendrix. Miles had met Hendrix in an earlier time when both were acting as sidemen for other artists in the early '60s. Their meeting had occurred in Canada at a show both were participating in. This prefaced a later friendship that would result in varied collaborations between the two artists. An extremely busy Hendrix would produce the Buddy Miles Express release, "Electric Church", in 1969. There was obvious public curiosity as to whether the name of the band "Buddy Miles Express" was influenced by Hendrix's act, "The Jimi Hendrix Experience".

Soon after, Hendrix started opening his recording style to include guest artists. And in this mode Hendrix was working in, Miles quite naturally was invited to participate. He played with Jimi Hendrix on the hugely influential "Electric Ladyland" album. Miles played on the songs "Rainy Day, Dream Away" and "Still Raining, Still Dreaming".

Soon after the release of this groundbreaking album, he would join Hendrix in a short lived Band of Gypsys. One of the notable features for his auidience at the time was the fact that all of the players were black. This was a first for Hendrix as an international recording star and this choice reflected a move toward reconnecting with his soul roots. It also had the effect of re-associating rock with its African American roots. "Live at the Fillmore East" was arguably Miles and Hendrix's most riveting recording. The band was based in New York City where Hendrix was spending the majority of his time. Hendrix, who was tangled in legal litigation concerning contracts he had signed in the past prior to his becoming internationally recognized, was required to release a record to the Capitol Records label as part of the agreement in court. This fact led to the live recording of his collaboration with both Miles and Billy Cox. The Band of Gypsys made a famous and enduring live album that was recorded in New York's Fillmore East on New Year's Eve 1969/70. However during a follow up performance a month later, Hendrix had a minor, drug-related meltdown on stage which has also been speculated to have be an act of sabotage. Miles was fired by Hendrix manager, Michael Jeffery and the Band of Gypsys all too short life came to an end.

Miles continued to work with Hendrix during early and mid 1970 after the Jimi Hendrix Experience had failed to reform to record. Miles would share recording studio drumming duties on songs "Room Full of Mirrors", "Izabella", "Ezy Ryder" and the first version of "Stepping Stones" (for which Mitchell played a final drum track). These songs have been released in several posthumous Hendrix albums.

Miles went on to produce other records under his own name. A song he had written and recorded with the Band of Gypsys, "Them Changes" was again recorded by Miles with his own band on a release soon after Hendrix's passing on Mercury Records. Miles' former Band Of Gypsys sideman, Billy Cox, performed bass guitar on this track. By this time Miles had dropped the "Buddy Miles Express" act name and shortened it to just his own name, Buddy Miles. That band included bassist David Hull (who would go on to work with Joe Perry of Aerosmith) and guitarist Charlie Karp. The same band would release a live album entitled Live which again included his by now signature song, "Them Changes". In late 1968, they appeared in the Monkees television special 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee which aired in April 1969.

Miles would see the song released yet a fourth time on a collaborative live record he made with Carlos Santana. This particular version was particularly notable for its intense energy, horn lines and blazing guitar work supplied by a very young and energetic Santana. Miles would then go on to be signed by the 70's-80's ear record label, Casablanca Records, best known for their rock act KISS. Miles' work for the label included the excellent album released under his own name, Bicentennial Gathering Of The Tribes. It would include on its liner notes a quote from President John F Kennedy concerning the American Indians. That quote would include the line "When we neglect the heroic past of the American Indian, we thereby weaken our own heritage". This was interesting in relationship to his former friendship and collaborations with Jimi Hendrix who, in fact, had much American Indian blood in his family line.

In 1986 Miles performed vocals for the California Raisins claymation ad campaign, most notably singing "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and was also lead vocals on two California Raisins albums featuring 1960's R&B covers. In 1986 and 1987, after spending the late 1970s and early 1980s incarcerated for drug charges, he also rejoined Carlos Santana as a vocalist on Santana's album Freedom.

Miles was seen in the Hendrix-family-owned, official video release "The Making of Electric Ladyland" on Rhino Records. That video featured interviews with the majority of players who were involved in recording the legendary Hendrix album. Miles even went as far as to be video recorded playing his same drum tracks yet again in the studio to the original multi-track recordings of Hendrix. In 1999 Miles appeared on the late Bruce Cameron's album, "Midnight Daydream" that included other Hendrix alumni Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell along with Jack Bruce and others.

In 2004 Miles reunited yet again with Billy Cox of the Band of Gypsys to re-record songs from the original live album of 1970 with guitarists Eric Gales, Kenny Olsen, Sheldon Reynolds and Andy Aledort. The album, titled "The Band Of Gypsys Return", was released in 2006. Until his death, Miles continued to be active musically and performed many shows with proceeds going to help support victims of natural disasters and other noble causes. Miles was also credited on sessions with George Clinton/Parliament/Funkadelic.

Buddy Miles was one of the best loved rock and roll drummers of our generation and his legacy with Hendrix will no doubt cement his place in history forever. I will miss him.

The Solo Bass Nights of Randy Marshall

Last Sunday night, Oakland's eclectic Rooz Cafe saw four phenomenal Bay area bassists take the stage to the delight of all. From the classical stylings of the up-and-coming Dave Lockhart; Celtic-Afro funk of Ariane Cap; the ECM flavored virtuoso Edo Castro; to Randy Marshall and his brainchild: "The Solo Bass Night" series. A member of the California Bass Alliance, Marshall "networks with other bay area soloists to bring the bass guitar into the limelight". Amazingly, he does an admirable job of bringing together some of the Bay area's best bassists in a monthly movable feast of looping, bowing, thumpin' and pluckin' good fun.

The show began with Marshall's now familiar foray into the world of the soloing bass player. A truly great bassist in his own right, Marshall's enthusiasm is tempered only by his humility and love of all things bass. His "Bass Solo Night" series are a thing to behold and fertile ground for bassists of all stripes, shapes and colors. Marshall played selections from his latest CD "Gravity", (Digital Garage label), a delightful and worthy effort. His lyrical playing and textured tones also showed an affinity for the late, great guitarist Michael Hedges. Quite a feat to bring that kind of feeling to the bass.

Marshall's lilting "Thin Blue Line II" is a fabulous example of his gorgeous style of plucking; The driving "Phallacy" will have you tapping your feet to a truly infectious groove and I am at a loss to explain how he plays "Bolero" on a bass. Marshall has such a guitar-like quality when he plays it that for a moment or two, I forgot I was listening to a bass!

Marshall's passions aren't limited to just his array of 5-string basses and wondrous effects. Heath Care, the issues of global warming and living in sustainable world are also high on his list. Marshall writes in his recent blog, "As more evidence of climate change continues to mount, it becomes harder and harder to deny the changes taking place all around us. Awareness of our planets health is becoming a daily spot on the news, and even businesses are trying to figure out how to operate in a more earth friendly fashion. There is one industry however that seems to be still operating with it's blinders on when it comes to global consciousness... Health Care."

"What's being completely ignored in the wake of all that, is just how much health care in general contributes to pollution and global warming. Do you all have any idea how much plastic is wasted every single day inside a hospital? You would gasp if I were able to go into real detail on it. Realize that because of the sterile and clean nature of everything we use to care for patients, we open "single use" plastic items and toss them when we're done by the thousands every day in just one hospital. If you think grocery stores giving out plastic bags is bad, and it is... you would keel over and die if you knew how much raw plastic is being spit out into your environment everyday by your local hospital.... and thats not to mention all the bio waste we put out..."

7 string bass (!) virtuoso Edo Castro is no stranger to Bay Area music fans. Castro was initially a self-taught bassist, but later attended the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. “ My teachers were not only schooling me, they’d recommend me for gigs," Castro marveled. During his stay in Chicago he played with some of the finest young bloods of the music scene at that time, Jim Trumpeter, Fareed Haque, Mark Walker and Hassan Khan. Of course there were the jazz icons, Miles Davis guitarist Pete Cosey and drummer Roy Haynes that Castro was fortunate enough to play with. Castro recalls," After playing a set with Roy Haynes, there was a bunch of us standing around talking to him and out of the blue Roy handed me his card and said, ‘Man when you’re ready, come to New York and give me a call. That was the greatest stamp of approval in front of all my peers.’ I’ve yet to get to New York and collect on that call.”

Castro's incredible ability to loop during his solos and use an Ebow to generate guitar-like sounds was nothing short of remarkable. His song "Remembering" was absolutely beautiful and truly reminded me of the works of another fantastic bassist: Eberhard Weber and his work on John Abercrombie and Jack DeJohnette's classic ECM album "Timeless".

Following Castro was Vallejo-by-way-of-Austria's Ariane Cap. A protege of legendary players like Kai Eckhardt and Victor Wooten, Cap has performed with the Celtic group "Tempest" and is one of the most sought after bassists in the Bay Area. Don't let her gender fool you; as Wooten himself remarked to me recently, "Oh man, this girl can play!"

Cap plays in a myriad of groups, including Richard Lindley's popular 'Palm Wine Boys" Born and raised in Austria, Cap has been musically active since a very early age. "Steeped in classical music," recalls Cap. "I played piano and other instruments until I found the bass. Electric and Upright became my main instruments. I studied Jazz Bass Education at the University of Music in Vienna, Austria, where I finally received a scholarship to attend the University of Miami for jazz studies for a year. (What an awesome school!!). I received a Graduate Certificate of Music in 2000 from USF in Tampa, Florida. I fell in love with the possibilities the States have to offer to a musician and managed to put my roots down in California." Bach, funk, african or celtic, Cap is at home with all of them and her solo pieces are a wonderfully crafted reflection of her worldly travels.

Closing this particular night was the youthful Dave Lockhart, whose blend of Bohemian jazz meets French classical on the double bass was mesmerizing. At first glance, one might mistake Lockhart for a hip-hop bassist, ready to throw down on a Digable Planets CD, or Modeski, Martin and Wood, however Lockhart's solos took the audience through a history of modern, post-classical styles, with a dash of South America and a hint of Bach. Afterwards, Steve, the proprietor of the Rooz Cafe confided in me, "Lot of great talent in here tonight, really great talent". I couldn't agree more.

Marshall and his revolving cast of bassists, featuring Edo Castro, Jeff Schmidt, Andres Cervantes and "Jimbo", will be at the Nomad Cafe in Berkeley on Shattuck, March 22nd for "Solo Bass Night II" and return to the Rooz Cafe in April. You don't have to be a bass player to appreciate these fine Bay area bassists, just a love of music and an open heart.


Randy Marshall
February 29th @The Red Vic Hotel, Haight Street

Randy Marshall's Solo Bass Night II
with Andy Cervantes, Edo Castro, Jeff Schmidt and "Jimbo"
March, 22nd @ The Nomad Cafe
6500 Shattuck, Berkeley, California

George Duke Comes to Yoshi's

I first saw the enigmatic keyboardist George Duke, back in the '70's with violinist Jean Luc Ponty and the incredible Frank Zappa and his stellar line up of the Mothers of Invention, featuring Ruth Underwood, Tom Fowler, Chester Thompson and Napoleon Murphy Brock. Soon he would team up with now legendary jazz icons Stanley Clarke and Billy Cobham. His subsequent solo albums with Flora Purim, Airto Moriera, Ndugu Chancler and Alphonso Johnson were equally unforgettable. In the ensuing years, Duke has become an in demand record producer winning grammys and working with many of the most popular artists on the scene today. For his debut at Yoshi's San Francisco, Duke comes in leading his own group which will cover his hits from the past and perhaps some surprises too. His performances in Oakland have always been packed, so get your tickets early for this one, and as they say, " bring your Dukey Stick!"

Duke was born in San Rafael and reared in Marin City. When he was just four years old, his mother took him to see Duke Ellington in concert. "I don't remember it too well," says George, "but my mother told me I went crazy. I ran around saying 'Get me a piano, get me a piano!'" He began his piano studies at age seven, absorbing the roots of Black music in his local Baptist church. "That's where I first began to play funky. I really learned a lot about music from the church. I saw how music could trigger emotions in a cause-and-effect relationship."By the age of sixteen, George had played with a number of high school jazz groups. He was heavily influenced by Miles Davis and the soul-jazz sound of Les McCann and Cal Tjader. Attending the San Francisco Conservatory Of Music and majoring in trombone and composition with a minor in contrabass, he received his Bachelor of Music degree in 1967.

Duke and a young singer named Al Jarreau formed a group which became the house band at San Francisco's Half Note Club. "There was another club up the street called The Both/And and I worked there on Mondays with everybody from Letta Mbulu to Sonny Rollins and Dexter Gordon." George later received a Masters Degree in composition from San Francisco State University and briefly taught a course on Jazz And American Culture at Merritt Junior College in Oakland. It was about this time that George began to release a series of jazz LP's on the MPS label.One night, on a local jazz station, George heard a record by the violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. When he found out that Jean-Luc was coming to California to record, he sent a tape to Dick Bock at World-Pacific Records, along with a note saying "There is no other pianist for this guy but me."

The George Duke Trio which emerged from those sessions was soon burning a path of creative excitement through the jazz world. It included a major European tour and an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival. The group's first gig in a rock-oriented venue came in early 1969. "It was a club in Los Angeles called Thee Experience," George recalls. In attendance were Cannonball Adderly, Quincy Jones, Frank Zappa, and the unexpected presence of an electric, rather than acoustic, piano on-stage. The Ponty-Duke performance wowed the crowd, and ushered in the West Coast counterpart of the Eastern fusion revolution sparked by Miles Davis, The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report. Before '69 was out, George joined Frank Zappa (as he put together a new "Mothers of Invention" lineup) and toured for an entire year.

At the end of 1970, Duke received an offer he couldn't refuse from veteran jazzman Julian "Cannonball" Adderly. "I joined the group in January '71, and stayed two years. Through Cannonball, I was given the opportunity to meet and work with Nancy Wilson, Joe Williams, Dizzy Gillespie -- all these great artists I'd been listening to since I was a kid. I met Stanley Clarke through my association with Cannonball. We played a festival in Pori Finland where I heard Stan with Chick Corea for the first time live – I was astounded! Through my recordings and live performances with Cannonball and Stanley, I developed a musical, and even more importantly, a family relationship with Flora Purim and Airto Moriera. The 70’s were filled with musical experimentation with all of these great musicians and more."

In 1973, Duke rejoined Zappa and brought Jean-Luc Ponty with him. That band stayed together for the next three years, until he left to join forces with drummer Billy Cobham. Together, they formed a powerhouse jazz fusion unit even more popular and influential than the earlier Duke/Ponty group.Duke became a solo artist in 1976, and enjoyed success with a series of fusion-oriented LP's such as his debut CBS LP, From Me To You. In 1978, the funk-flavored sound of the gold album Reach For It propelled George Duke into the upper reaches of the charts, and from small clubs to large arenas.

In 1990, George Duke was named "R&B Keyboardist Of The Year" by Keyboard Magazine for the second consecutive year. Other honors include Grammy nominations for his production of "We Are The World" by the Children Of The World; "Sweet Baby" by the Clarke/Duke project; "Let's Hear It For The Boy" by Deniece Williams; "Stay With Me Tonight" and "On The Wings Of Love" by Jeffrey Osborne; and "Fumilayo" by Dianne Reeves. Tutu, by Miles Davis with selections produced by George Duke, won a Grammy in 1986. Both Miles Davis Amandla (selections produced by Duke) and Al Jarreau's Heart's Horizon (produced entirely by Duke) received Grammy nominations in 1990.

In '92, Duke's Warner Bros. debut Snapshot captured the number one slot on the jazz charts for five weeks and generated the Top Ten R&B single "No Rhyme, No Reason." The following year, Duke's Muir Woods Suite, a major orchestral piece, premiered at the Montreux Jazz Festival and, in 1994, Duke began work on Illusions. Reflecting on Illusions Duke said, "I wanted to continue what I started with the Snapshot record, to continue doing that type of music... and I wanted to do a follow-up to 'No Rhyme, No Reason."

Following the release of Illusions in January 1995, Duke began mixing the Muir Woods Suite which was recorded live, when originally performed at the Montreux Festival in 1993. When not locked in the studio with the Suite, George arranged, produced and performed on songs and albums for a number of artists, including: Najee, George Howard, and the Winans (he arranged and produced three tracks on their Qwest album Heart And Soul which was nominated for a Grammy). Duke also traveled extensively, performed a European tour with Anita Baker and a Brazilian tour with Rachelle Ferrell, as well as toured the states with his own Duke and Friends tour featuring Phil Perry, Howard Hewett, Dianne Reeves and George Howard. He ended the year performing in Jakarta with Phil Perry.

The beginning of '96 saw the release of his musical and emotional tour de force Muir Woods Suite, which was performed by a jazz quartet made up of George Duke (piano), Stanley Clarke (bass), Chester Thompson (drums) and Paulinho Da Costa (percussion) with L·orchestre National de Lille, Ettore Stratta, conductor.

Duke also produced the Grammy award winning In the Moment CD for Dianne Reeves, and Rachelle Ferrell's Individuality, delaying completion of his own year 2000 solo release, Cool. In the midst of production of his wonderfully diverse and vocally revealing sixth Warner Bros. solo release, he headlined a tribute to Jesse Jackson at a special birthday celebration for the renowned reverend, along with Stevie Wonder and Erykah Badu and continued his longstanding association as musical director for the Soul Train Awards. During the summer, Duke toured with the Montreux Jazz Festival on Tour in the USA, for which he served as both musical director and a featured artist, along with an all-star cast of musicians and vocalists including Al Jarreau, David Sanborn, Roberta Flack and Joe Sample.

Duke's career has continued to flourish, with accolades too numerous to mention here, however for a glimpse of one the greatest keyboardists of our generation, trot down to Yoshi's for what will surely be another in a long line of stellar performances.

George Duke
with Mike Manson, Jef Lee Johnson and Ronald Brunner
Yoshi's on Fillmore
Feb 14, 2008 - Feb 17, 2008
All shows $28 & $32