Miles Griffith

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Miles Lloyd Griffith (born May 13, 1969 in Brooklyn , NY) is an American jazz singer .

Live and act

Griffith grew up in a musical family with Caribbean roots; his father plays steel drums , his mother is a gospel singer . Griffith began performing as a child; In 1980 he had a small role in One Trick Pony with Paul Simon . Then he sang in the Boys Choir of Harlem (1982-1983, 1985), with whom he also toured several times. He graduated in 1987 classical vocal training at the La Guardia High School of Music and Performing Arts , but also attended a week the workshop of Barry Harris . He also received lessons from Marion Cowings (1987–1990) and Pete Yellin (1988–1991) to obtain a bachelor's degree from Long Island University in 1991 , where he studied with Jay Clayton . Then he attended Queens College , where Donald Byrd , Roland Hanna and Richard Harper taught him (Master 1995).

In 1994 he played one of the main roles ("Jesse") in Wynton Marsalis ' play Blood on the Fields ; he participated in both the world premiere and the radio production in the same year and the studio recording in 1995, which won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize ; in the same year he went on a world tour with the piece.

In the late 1990s he was a member of Jon Hendricks ' Explosion , James Williams ' ICU , Jimmy Heath's big band and Jack Walrath's Master of Suspense , for which he also wrote lyrics. He also worked with Roy Hargrove , Bill Saxton , Carl Allen , Barry Harris, Bruce Barth and Pamela Baskin Watson . Then he founded his own groups, initially Miles Griffith: Voice, Drums and Dance , with the trombonist Jamal Haynes, the percussionists Taru Alexander and David Pleasant, the bassists Dwayne Burno and Vattel Cherry and various visual artists. He has also worked for Cassandra Wilson , TS Monk , the Sun Ra Archestra, Wilber Morris and Bill Lee and his Mo 'Better Blues Quartet . In recent years he has also been touring with Yoron Israel & Key Player and Gerry Eastman's Williamsburg Music Center Band . He can also be heard on albums with Mark Elf , Bill Mobley and Jamaaladeen Tacuma .

Griffiths was a faculty member at Columbia University , then Queens College , from 2005 to 2008 . He also taught in Groningen, Novo Mesto and Izola and at the New School.

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personal data
SURNAME Griffith, Miles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Griffith, Miles Lloyd
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz singer
DATE OF BIRTH May 13, 1969
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York