CRITIC'S CHOICE: " Anything Miles plays is worth savoring," (Oct 21, 2007)
Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune
Michael Miles has used a combination of musical and theatrical performance, education, and composition to change the way the banjo is viewed, and to explore the cultural and political boundaries of American music in the process.
Dirty Linen, 2006
Musician's one-man banjo show is magic. Captivating...entertaining...thoughtful....vivid images of America...a treat to hear.
Elaine Schmidt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MICHAEL J. MILES offers these AMERICAN JOURNEY performances
FROM SENEGAL TO SEEGER: Stories of the American banjo (formerly titled The Magic Banjo)
The banjo came from Africa and spilled into the heart of America. Armed with 8 banjos, news clippings, old journals, the writings of Walt Whitman, Carl Sandburg, Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seeger—Miles paints a surprising, poignant, political and humorous portrait of this American instrument.
Highly recommended…an exhilarating, musical and multi-dimensional journey….a provocative political and social history of America. Hedy Weiss, Chicago SunTimes
NEW: The Tin Pan Alley Times: Stories and Songs of Hustle and Hope
Featuring Michael Miles, guitar, banjo, & vocals and David Young, trumpet, flugelhorn & vocals
We will take you from“Hard Times” to “Easy Street” and from “Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime” to “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” Imagine hobos & high society, bread lines & bathtub gin, suffragettes & flappers. This show features songs from America's greatest songwriters, poets and story-tellers of the 20’s & 30’s. Performance includes the music of Cole Porter, George & Ira Gershwin, and Fats Waller, highlighted by the literature of John Steinbeck & Langston Hughes. Framing the presentation are rear screen projections: imagery, photography & WPA murals transport the audience to this extraordinary time and place. With rich voices, scintillating guitar and banjo, and soaring trumpet, Miles & Young combine their musical and theatrical expertise to bring this world to life.
AMERICAN SONGBAG:1925-1975
In 1927, Carl Sandburg published a collection of folk songs, work songs, and ethnic songs called “The American Songbag.” In his introduction he states that songs tell our story in a “manner and air not found in regular history books.” Miles picks up right where Sandburg left off and takes us on a journey through the next 50 years of magnificent music. With guitar and banjo in hand, Miles puts all of this music in its context with an inspiring blend of literature, politics, and popular culture.
AMERICA 1968
“What a field day for the heat—there’s thousands of people in the street.” 1968 witnessed American turmoil and heartache, and provoked some of the greatest music of all time. Unbridled voices—Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, the Beatles, Dylan—defined a changing world. With a rock and roll cast of seven and photographic imagery, Miles portrays the year month by month, just as it happened: music, politics, heartache and humor.
Michael's Miles' America 1968 is a wonder, transporting you into that tumultuous and magical year with energy, grace and power. If you were alive then, this show will make you feel more alive now, as you recapture the crazy, tuneful quilt that was 1968. If you are too young to have been around, it will give you a full and sad and happy taste of what you missed. Rick Kogan, WGN Radio and Chicago Tribune
BIOGRAPHY
Michael J. Miles is a rare and engaging artist. He grew up in Chicago in an Irish family where music was served like dinner--everybody had some. His blue collar father played the player piano and filled the house with singing. Everybody sang. Everyone read. Everyone debated politics.
Michael took it all in with great relish and has now turned the theatrical stage into his own living room--similarly filled with songs and stories.
With an MA in Music degree and four CD’s to his credit, he also works as educator, sharing his zeal for music with both children and professional educators.
