12/07/2025
For years, the popular explanation has been that Miles deliberately turned away as a statement — shutting out the crowd or projecting a sense of mystery. It became part of the mythology around him: the cool, distant genius who refused to “perform” in the traditional way.
Ron Carter says that story is wrong.
“Miles wanted to hear the band better so he faced us instead of out to the audience. It was NOT, as some people suggest, that he was shutting the audience out!”
In other words, it wasn’t theatre. It was about sound. Miles placed the music before the optics — listening closely to the group and communicating onstage, rather than worrying about how it looked from the seats.
It’s a reminder that what we see from the outside doesn’t always match what musicians are doing in the moment. For Miles, the audience still got what mattered most: the music itself.
[📸 Rvb, CC BY-SA 3.0*]
