The violin is often associated with classical music or as a fiddle, in the country or bluegrass genres, but in recent years the instrument has found its way into popular, rock and now jazz music. Miles Stiebel is on the leading edge of breaking the violin stereotypes, and the Reston Virginia native’s new CD Excellent Distraction, provides ample proof that the stringed instrument can serve as a conduit between jazz, pop, funk and Motown. From the first few bars of the cheery, upbeat, opening track “Midnight Fly,” to the Latin flavored “Mambo Number Miles,” and Stiebel’s funky interpretation of Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke,” it is evident that the violinist is an imaginative player, composer and arranger, whose music is far from self serving, and has at its core, a desire to be delicious ear candy for the listener.

 

During an interview earlier this year, Stiebel told Riveting Riffs Magazine that most people are pleasantly surprised when they hear how the violin is voiced in his compositions.

 

“A lot of people told me that when they heard that the violin was the lead in jazz they automatically figured that they weren’t going to like it, but at least they gave it a listen, and they enjoyed it. That has actually happened with reviewers as well. People who have come out to the shows have said that someone told them about my music and they weren’t sure what to think, but they were pleasantly surprised.  One of the comments that I get is people are surprised to hear a violin used in a contemporary jazz format, which is dominated quite a bit by saxophones and guitar leads, and they are surprised that the violin is being used in a way that works (in a jazz format). People have also told me that they enjoy listening to the music at the end of the day, if they have had a hard day. It not only makes them feel good, but it picks them up, relaxes them and puts them in a good place. It is kind of neat to know that your music can affect people in positive ways,” says Stiebel.

 

Stiebel is conscious of the great love that many jazz aficionados have for the various voices of the saxophone however, he believes that there is room for the violin to lay claim to some of that popularity and share a portion of that top billing.

 

Listeners may find that the first two tracks from Excellent Distraction sound familiar as both “Midnight Fifty,” and “Six Degrees Above Normal,” have been featured on the Weather Channel, as was the case with his song “A Great Day,” from his earlier album No Hassle Miles.

 

Stiebel says, “”Midnight Fifty,” is a tune for which I wanted to have a contemporary jazz feel, and I think that the melody is really important, so I came up with a good melody, and I set it to a beat that I thought would work really well. I combined that with the rhythm section and the horn section, to give it a distinctive pop.”

 

As for “Six Degrees Above Normal,” Stiebel says “I was also going for a very hummable melody or a tune that people would find appealing, but I wanted to give it just a little bit more of a pop jazz groove and with that arrangement, I also added a strings section. When I was writing the tune, I thought that it would be a good song for the violin and the saxophone to trade with the harmonies, and have conversations, while trading back and forth. It worked really, really well. I wrote “Six Degrees Above Normal,” with guitarist Gerry Kunkel. I wrote the A an B sections of the tune. I was very happy with how it was sounding, and he loved it as well, but Gerry thought that the tune was a little too short, so the next time that we got together he composed a C section that just fit like a glove. I am really happy with the way that tune turned out.”