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Bio (long)Miles Okazaki is an American musician based in New York City. His main focus is on rhythmic concepts for improvisation, composition, and music theory. His approach to the guitar is described by the New York Times as “utterly contemporary, free from the expectations of what it means to play a guitar in a group setting — not just in jazz, but any kind.”Okazaki grew up in Port Townsend, Washington, a small town near the Olympic Mountains in the Pacific Northwest. He began music on classical guitar at age 6, and was playing regular gigs on electric guitar by age 14, after studying for several years at the Centrum Jazz Workshop. He received many awards as a guitarist throughout his early years, and eventually placed 2nd in the Thelonious Monk International Guitar Competition.Okazaki moved to New York City in 1997 to pursue a career in music and begin writing his own material. His teacher on guitar at this time was Rodney Jones, who recommended him for his first gig, with Stanley Turrentine. Okazaki spent four years on the road with vocalist Jane Monheit, while also writing and rehearsing the music for his first album which was released independently.

• Miles Okazaki Trickster
• Miles Okazaki Mirror Rar Programs For Mac
• Miles Okazaki Monk

Selected Discography:Leader:The Sky Below (2019)Work: The Complete Compositions of Thelonious Monk (2018)Trickster (2017)Figurations (2012)Generations (2009)Mirror (2006)Sideman:Matt Mitchell: Phalanx Ambassadors (2019)Steve Coleman: Live at the Village Vanguard (2018)Steve Coleman: Synovial Joints (2015)Steve Coleman: Functional Arrhythmias (2013)Rajna Swaminathan: Of Agency and Abstraction (2018)Mary Halvorson: Paimon, Book of Angels Vol. 32 (2017)Jonathan Finlayson: Moving Still (2016)Jonathan Finlayson: Moment and the Message (2013)Amir El Saffar Not Two (2016)Dan Weiss: Sixteen (2016)Dan Weiss: Fourteen (2014)Dan Weiss: Jhaptal Drumset Solo (2011)Dan Weiss: Tintal Drumset Solo (2005)Alexis Cuadrado: Poetica (2016)Adam Rudolph: Turning Towards the Light (2016)Jen Shyu: Jade Tongue (2009)Patrick Cornelius: While We’re Still Young (2016)Patrick Cornelius: Maybe Steps (2011)Ganesh Kumar: Endless Beats (2015)Jane Monheit: Surrender (2007)Jane Monheit: The Season (2005)Jane Monheit: Taking a Chance on Love (2004).

Sometimes artists' most obvious credentials say little about who they really are. Guitarist Miles Okazaki has been singer Jane Monheit's guitarist since 2002, but anyone who expects Mirror to reflect a similarly standards-heavy inclination will be seriously surprised.

Miles Okazaki Trickster

Whether or not in a good way depends on one's own predilections, but for those wanting greater breadth and depth, Okazaki's debut as a leader represents a welcome departure from Monheit's mainstream approach.Okazaki's mathematical compositional approach reflects a passion for numbers that he's had since his teens. Irregular meters, winding themes and the confluence of contrapuntal phrases of varying lengths are all significant parts of his compositional style. It's no surprise that David Binney appears on half the disc, since Okazaki clearly views the altoist's innovative writing style as a reference point. Also featured: drummer Dan Weiss, who's popping up everywhere these days and plays in Binney's current touring group. Brief guest appearances by altoist Miguel Zenon and tenorist Chris Potter, both comfortable improvisers over knotty contexts, augment Okazaki's core quartet featuring Weiss, reedman Christof Knoche and bassist Jon Flaugher.Other than the four-minute 'Improvisation,' cleverly based on John Coltrane's 'Countdown,' the balance of Mirror is characterized by improvisation over complex form. Defined structure may predominate, but Weiss is the X-factor, demonstrating a signature ability to maintain groove while playing with an open-ended elasticity and energy that few drummers, other than perhaps Brian Blade, can match.Okazaki's penchant for bar-hopping unison or octave-apart saxophone lines also references Binney.

Still, Okazaki leans at times to a stronger fusion-like intensity and overt cross-cultural interests. The aptly titled 'Volcano' begins with a dark groove and Indo-centric theme. Okazaki's solo gradually builds with a grungy, Nels Cline-like skronk, ultimately settling into a wash of power chords under Weiss' explosive solo, before returning to a linear improv that's drawn to a close by Binney and Knoche's extended theme.Elsewhere the album bristles with equal muscle, but Okazaki's also capable of greater finesse and more oblique melodies.

Miles Okazaki Mirror Rar Programs For Mac

Miles Okazaki Monk

His acoustic guitar drives the rhythm of 'Spiral'—a 4/4 piece, but with shifting subdivisions kept off-kilter by Weiss' curiously staggered pattern and a lengthy melody that winds its way throughout its entire three minutes without repetition. Okazaki's Brazilian-informed nylon-string guitar segues into 'Mirror I,' which features another idiosyncratic melody where unison alto and soprano saxophones effectively break apart into harmony only rarely, and a potent solo by Zenon.The composite approach of Mirror runs the risk of outweighing its value at times, but for the most part this largely continuous hour-long suite demonstrates how Binney's distinctive paradigm has become a new starting point for younger artists like Okazaki. Given this mature first effort, what will be even more interesting is to hear how the guitarist further departs and builds his own voice on future recordings. Track Listing: Theme I; Spiral; Mirror I; Howl; Invention; Theme II; Metamorphosis; Halfway; Momentum; Canon; Theme III; Improvisation; Volcano; Mirror II; Chorale.Personnel: Miles Okazaki: guitars (1-15), percussion (2,10), computer (12,13);Dan Weiss: drums (1-15), tabla (5), percussion (10) drum samples (12);Christof Knoche: soprano (2-5,7,8, 13,14), alto sax (5,9,10,15), bass clarinet (1,5,6,8,11,13), harmonica (5); David Binney: alto saxophone (4-6,8,10,13-15); Miguel Zenon: alto saxophone(3,7,9); Chris Potter: tenor saxophone (12).Title: Year Released: 2006 Record Label.