Music

Bill Miller, "The Red Road" -Warner Western

Bill Miller, a Mohican Native American from the Stockbridge-Munsee Indian Reservation in north-central Wisconsin, has crafted a brilliant new release, "The Red Road." Miller's work is personal, yet it draws the listener towards the near-universal themes of spiritualism and tradition found in the best of Native American music. This recording also demonstrates Miller's comfort with blending traditional Native American music and contemporary arrangements. Coupled with a good sense of modem production techniques, the result is a compelling masterpiece of contemporary music.

A number of the cuts on this recording are simply exquisite. "Tumbleweed," for example, is the story of an Oklahoma "half-breed" drifter, fighting to maintain his dignity. Miller performs it in a sweet, countrified tenor, demonstrating his voice to be one of the best around today. Miller' s musical versatility can be heard on the first two cuts, "Dreams of Wounded Knee" and "Praises," in which he combines chanting, drumming, and flute playing.

Also featured on this recording are acclaimed flutist Richard Mirabal and The Smoky Town Singers, a group of Pow Wow performers frorn Shawano, Wisconsin. Mirabal's work is thrilling on the live "Kokopelli's Journey" while the Singers add depth and authenticity to the powerful chant "Inter-Tribal Pow Wow Song."

Richard Bennett's pristine production is a key factor in the emotional impact felt in "Reservation Road" - a song filled with remembrances of growing up and of burying parents. The production quality is also important in the recording's finale, "My People." Here the tremolo added to the guitar sound complements Miller's vibrato, and reminds one of Bennett's earlier production work with Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris.

Throughout the recording, the traditionalism and emotionalism often found in Native American music is combined with a modem production sound, thus framing the beautiful melodies in a sound compatible with current musical trends. What this mixing tecnnique does is to make the sentiments of Miller more accessíble to a much larger audience. And this could be one of the reasons why, as Miller told listeners during his recent Schoolkids' in-store acoustic set, the producers from "Northem Exposure" are interested in his music for their TV show.

The power of Miller's "TheLong Road" produces a sound and a point of view that emphasizes, yet moves beyond traditional Native American themes and music. It becomes an enthralling and endearing sound, which instead of focusing our attention on the differences between Native American music and contemporary music, it reminds us that the dreams and struggles of Native Americans, as expressed by Bill Miller, contain elements that can be shared by us all. This is the ultimate and most valuable strength of this highly recommended recording.

--By William Shea