James Miller and Friends

Trombonist Alex Iles enjoys a varied and successful career in many musical settings as an active member of the musically diverse Southern California freelance performing and recording community. Alex has established himself as a very in-demand trombonist/low brass performer, recording artist and educator.

Among the varied palette of artists with whom Alex has performed and/or recorded are: Joe Cocker, James Horner, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Alan Jackson, Zubin Mehta, Kid Cudi, The Tonight Show, Sir Neville Marriner, Hans Zimmer, Johnny Mathis, Lalo Shifrin, Natalie Cole, The Who, Meghan Trainor, Jeffrey Kahane, Danny Elfman, Ray Charles, Trevor Rabin, Harry Connick, Jr., Henry Mancini, Josh Grobin, John Zorn, Terence Blanchard, Barbra Streisand, John Williams, Fallout Boy, Thomas Ades, Neil Young, Johnny Mandel, Paul McCartney, and Prince.

Alex has toured as lead and solo jazz trombonist with Woody Herman and Maynard Ferguson. He has performed and recorded as a regular member of many of the top big bands and jazz groups in the Los Angeles area including Bob Florence’s Limited Edition, Tom Kubis Big Band and he was an original member of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. He has performed on The Motion Picture Academy Awards, The Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, The People’s Choice Awards and hundreds of television series and motion picture soundtracks including Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rogue One, Frozen, La La Land, Up, The Incredibles, X-Men, Secret Life of Pets, Avatar, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., LOST, and Transformers.

James Miller is the Associate Principal Trombone with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a position he has held since 1999. His duties include performing on alto, tenor, and bass trombone; tenor tuba; and bass trumpet. His previous orchestral experience includes the North Carolina Symphony, the Long Island Philharmonic, and the New York Philharmonic. Miller earned his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Northern Iowa and his Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School, where he was a scholarship student of Per Brevig.

His playing experience includes performances with the Silk Road Ensemble, the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, Ensemble ST-X, the Michael Bublé Big Band, and a variety of jazz, rock, ska, and latin ensembles. He has been a participant in the Mainly Mozart Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Banff Institute and the Ojai Music Festival as well as performing as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and on the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella Series and before several orchestras internationally. As a composer, he has had world premieres in New York’s Lincoln Center and continues to perform his own works in solo performances throughout the country. He serves on the faculty of the California Institute of the Arts (CIA) and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).

Miller is a Conn/Selmer and a Denis Wick clinician and has two CDs, entitled From Coast to Coast and Delays, Delays; on All Barks Dog records.