Miles Davis protege Wallace Roney does not copy the man he learnt from
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American jazz trumpeter Wallace Roney has been dubbed as a Miles Davis clone on nurmerous occasions, but he takes the criticism with a pinch of salt.
The 52-year-old, whose sound is evocative of the late jazz great Miles Davis precisely because he trained under the musician between 1983 up until his death in 1991, tells Life!: "You know the funny thing about it? One day Miles said to me, 'How come the critics don't write about you?'. I said, 'Well you know they always pick on me and try to say that I'm cloning you.'"
He adds: "And Miles said, 'Don't listen to them, I know what you're trying to do, you remind me of me, you keep playing the horn, or they'll play you instead of you playing your horn'."
Roney, who has put out more than 15 albums as a leading musician in various jazz groups, will be performing covers of Miles Davis' greatest hits on March 10 at the Esplanade's Mosaic Music Festival with his tribute band called Miles Smiles.
