Ron Miles

Cornetist Ron Miles left us too soon — but also left a lot to remember him by. Two of his closest friends, guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Rudy Royston, do just that in this episode, which follows the release of a gorgeous archival album, Old Main Chapel.

The cornetist, composer and bandleader combined a distinctly American harmonic palette with an openhearted emotional clarity uncommon in modern jazz.

For Miles, the better he knows how a tune works, the less he has to play to put it across.