Butch Miles

Butch Miles (born Charles J. Thorton, Jr. on July 4, 1944 in Ironton, Ohio) is an American jazz drummer. He has played with the Count Basie Orchestra, Dave Brubeck, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., and Frank Sinatra, among others.Miles, who cites Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, and Jo Jones as favorite drummers, began playing snare drum at the age of nine and majored in music at West Virginia State University(1962–66). After receiving his degree, he went on tour with the Iris Bell Trio. He was Mel Torme's drummer for 3 1/2 years and it was Torme and Buddy Rich who recommended Miles to Count Basie when a drummer was needed. Miles was with the Count Basie Orchestra from 1975 to 1979, returning for ten years from 1997 to 2007, and was also leader of the group Jazz Express in the 1980s and 1990s. He has also performed at the Newport and Montreux Jazz Festivals.Butch Miles is a member of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame 2011 class of inductees. He is currently a professor in the School of Music at Texas State University-San Marcos. In the first week of March 2014 Butch was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis which has no treatment other than a lung transplant. On July 29, 2014 he received a lung transplant and went into a period of recovery at his home in Buda, TX.