If you sat us down and told us that the same guy responsible for “Inner Ninja” would, eight years later, be the mastermind behind the very sleek and sexy new instrumental “Bird Song,” there’s not a chance we would have believed you. But the newest single from David Myles is just that, a total 180 that unveils yet another side of the Fredericton-based songwriter and without a doubt, this is his best and most sophisticated work.
Admittedly, Myles has always been a fan of the classics. The fingerprints of the greats are all over his work, from his Buddy Holly vibe to the very obvious nods to the likes of Roy Orbison and Willie Nelson on his last two albums, Real Love (2017) and Leave Tonight (2020) (and admittedly, we gave him grief for the former, having perhaps delved too deeply, but have since grown to love it). So it might not be entirely shocking that he’s tapped another pool of influences for the new track. The difference is that “Bird Song” is alive.
This is no museum piece throwback, played out in the style of past artists, but an electrified example of standing on the shoulders of giants and charging forward in a new direction. This is get-up-out-of-your-chair good.
“This is an expression of my love for instrumental jazz, funk and soul,” says Myles. “As a young trumpet player, I loved stuff like Donald Byrd, Grant Green, Herbie Hancock and Freddie Hubbard. They had great compositions with these awesome solos floating on top of super heavy grooves. I loved it. Like those great recordings, I wanted to write songs that were strong enough to be able to hold everything together, but loose enough for there to be lots of room for the other players to really dig in and express themselves. That was the key for me.
“You have to understand, I grew up obsessed with jazz, playing trumpet in high school stage band, and the works. I love instrumental music, and I love the sound of a bigger sized band making it happen, together. I’m talking about Duke Ellington, Count Basie, the big band recordings of Quincy Jones. That’s why this project was so special. It gave me the opportunity to really engage with that love.”
It’s the first track to be released from Myles’ upcoming album, That Tall Distance. Fully instrumental, he’s ditched the crooning to chase after his first love with an impressive list of friends and collaborators in tow: Joshua Van Tassel, Andrew Jackson, Leith Fleming-Smith, Asa Brosius, and Dean Drouillard. These are musicians we’re already used to seeing bringing a touch of fairy dust to every project they work with and the result of having them all in one place is obvious. Myles could have thrown this lot into a room and come back with an expectation of straw spun into gold and he probably wouldn’t have been disappointed.
“It’s pretty wild really, that we made this whole thing without ever being in the same room,” says Myles. “I’d start by recording a structure, usually with guitar and trumpet, treating each song like a jazz standard. I’d play out the main melody (or ‘the head’), leaving room for solos, and structuring each song with lots of room for improvisation. My job was to create the vessel in which the players could let loose. And let loose they did, check out that pedal steel solo by Asa Brosius!”
David Myles’ new album, That Tall Distance, is out on August 27th, 2021. On that day, you’ll find us at the front of the line for vinyl.