As a composer, keyboardist, producer and arranger, Grammy winner Jason Miles has brought to every new project he’s undertaken a boundless sense of curiosity and adventure. No less than Roberta Flack said about him, “Jason Miles has raised the level of excellence for the musicians who have had the good fortune of working with him, myself included. He has enriched the lives of the millions of people who have listened to the music he plays, the recordings he produces, and the countless musicians he mentors and inspires.”
From extensive collaborations with such giants as Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, Grover Washington Jr., David Sanborn, and Marcus Miller, to his own critically acclaimed recordings including To Grover With Love: Live in Japan (2016), Kind of New (2015, with trumpeter Ingrid Jensen), Global Noize (2008), What’s Going On? Songs of Marvin Gaye (2006) and Miles to Miles (2005), New York native Jason Miles has always been a restless seeker. He has shifted seamlessly between a multitude of genres, from R&B to pop to Brazilian music — and even children’s music and country (producing Suzy Boguss’ Sweet Danger) — and, of course, several different strains of jazz, from Latin to fusion.
We chatted with Jason on how he’s using Sequential instruments in his music:
What made you choose Sequential?
I have been using Sequential’s instruments since my first Prophet-5 in 1979 — serial number #212! Since then I have owned two Prophet-5’s, a Prophet 10, Prophet VS keyboard and rack, a T8 (highly underrated), a Prophet ‘08 and now a Prophet-6 and OB-6. We go back a long ways.
How are you using them?
I use them for studio and live. I’ve been using the Prophet-6 when I do my Celebrating the Music of Weather Report project, but now will also be bringing the OB-6 which really has an amazing sound.
What’s one of your favorite things about them?
Sequential has made instruments that not only sound great but bring back the vibe of what made programming these instruments so much fun and so focused. It’s all there right in front of you to create without going into page after page of digital nonsense that very few people have the need for. Every knob on these instruments leads you to something excellent.
What do they give you that other synths might not?
They have a superb sound, and now that there is so much more technology easily available, the addition of effects has really made it so you can cover the whole sound within the instrument.
Any interesting tricks or techniques you’d like to share?
The tricks lie in my ear. I work on the instruments looking and experimenting to find the perfect sound and my ears have never failed me in 45 years. That’s my trick.
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