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Jazz Drummer & Agent Myles Weinstein's Success / Miguel Zenon 2nd MacArthur Award Client

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Drummer and percussionist Myles Weinstein has led two very different professional lives, one as a performing artist and the other as a booking agent to many of the best musicians in jazz today. One of those musicians, Miguel Zenon, was the latest to receive the MacArthur Award, often called the “genius” award.

Weinstein’s booking agency, Unlimited Myles, Inc., exclusively represents multi-award-winning artists including violinist Regina Carter, his first artist to receive the MacArthur Award; pianists Kenny Barron and Vijay Iyer; vocalist Luciana Souza; guitarist Russell Malone; and Weinstein’s old bandmate, vibraphonist Stefon Harris. He also represents pianist Billy Childs; percussionist Cyro Baptista; guitarist and vocalist Lionel Loueke; vocalists Chiara Civello and Ayelet Rose Gottlieb; and saxophonist Zenon.

Weinstein’s career as a jazz agent began at the primarily classical booking agency, Herbert Barrett Management, which he joined in 1993 as publicity director. Noting its success with its one jazz client, Dr. Billy Taylor, Weinstein suggested creating a jazz division. He became its leader and quickly signed the Mingus Big Band. A creative agent from the beginning, he recruited Benny Golson to lead an all-star project celebrating the legacy of Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers. The first lineup included Terence Blanchard, Curtis Fuller, Geoffrey Keezer, Peter Washington and Lewis Nash, who represented the Jazz Messengers band throughout different decades. Very well-received, the project continued for years by rotating in different stellar jazz musicians such as Mulgrew Miller, Randy Brecker, Buster Williams, Carl Allen and Steve Turre and was recorded by Telarc Records, which asked Weinstein to produce. Weinstein’s reputation as a top jazz booking agent was solidified, and he soon signed Eliane Elias, Regina Carter, Steve Turre and Stefon Harris.

While creating and growing the jazz division at Herbert Barrett in the 90’s, Weinstein remained active as a musician, co-leading a band with saxophonist Chris Potter called The Jazz Mentality. The group toured throughout the northeast and midwest regions and made two recordings – which Weinstein co-produced – that reached the top of the jazz charts. Weinstein also booked a tour for vibraphonist Stefon Harris, whose Grammy Award-nominated Blue Note recording, “The Grand Unification Theory,” featured Weinstein on percussion. Weinstein took off his booking hat to join Harris on the tour. Weinstein has played percussion, timpani and drums with a diverse list of artists and orchestras that includes Saturday Night Live’s trombonist Steve Turre, the Long Island Philharmonic and the Joffrey Ballet Orchestra.

Weinstein left Herbert Barrett in 2001, after eight-years of service, to found his own booking agency, Unlimited Myles, Inc. His first clients were Barron, James Carter, Malone and Turre. Herbert Barrett clients Claudia Acuña, Carter and Harris soon followed him. He comments on what prompted him to take this initiative, “I saw a need for a boutique agency that understood the mindset of a musician and could give clients personal attention while also recognizing the needs of the concert presenter. Artists aren’t just names on a roster at Unlimited Myles. I put the artists first but am pro-active on everyone’s behalf so that everyone wins.”

Weinstein’s creative approach includes generating commissions for his clients such as one for Maria Schneider, which led to a Grammy Award. His most recent one is a violin concerto that Billy Childs will compose for Regina Carter, which will premiere with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in January 2010 under the direction of Leonard Slatkin.

Weinstein’s newest brainstorm is the Blue Smoke Project, which features great jazz and the delicious barbeque of New York City’s Blue Smoke restaurant. Owned by famous restaurateur and jazz fan, Danny Meyer, Blue Smoke provides the food for its downstairs venue partner, Jazz Standard, recognized as one of the best jazz clubs in New York City. Weinstein worked with Blue Smoke to create the unique concept, which features pianist Kenny Barron’s trio and guitarist Russell Malone’s quartet and of course, the BBQ. The Blue Smoke Project premiered this March at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Champaign/Urbana, Illinois, the first event of their 2008-2009 series to sell out. UC Davis in California will present it next season.

Weinstein regularly books his artists into the most respected venues worldwide including Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall in New York City; Disney Hall in Los Angeles; Herbst Theater in San Francisco; Symphony Center in Chicago; and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Festival bookings include JVC Jazz, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage, Monterey, Playboy, North Sea, Umbria, Marciac, Pori and the Tim Festival in Brazil.

His artists are among the most-awarded in jazz. Grammy Award winners include Souza, Childs, Baptista and former client, Maria Schneider. Grammy Award nominees include Kenny Barron, Regina Carter and Stefon Harris. In addition to the MacArthur Award, Zenn also received the Guggenheim Award in 2008. Jazz Journalist Award winners include Baptista, Barron, Carter, Harris, Iyer, Loueke and Souza. All of the artists on the roster of Unlimited Myles have appeared multiple times on the readers’ and critics’ polls of Downbeat and Jazz Times Magazines.

Since 2004 Weinstein has served on the board of directors for the North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents (NAPAMA). He received his bachelor of music degree at Rutgers University (1985) and his master of music at Manhattan School of Music (1987). He also attended the New England Conservatory in Boston in 1985. Weinstein and his wife Lorraine work and reside in Aberdeen, New Jersey.

Unlimited Myles, Inc., represents veteran artists who have a direct association with the history of jazz and young artists whose inspiration comes from that lineage. The agency serves a diverse roster of some of the most important artists in jazz today.

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