Discography
Music
New album
By Water
Miles Mindlin with Dayna Stephens, Simón Willson & Jonas Esser
Out January 2027 · Contagious Music
“This set perfectly balances intensity, intricacy and intimacy.”
By Water was born out of a time of growth and self-acceptance in Miles Mindlin’s life. The music is about finding softness and tenderness in hard times and places.
It grew from a moment last summer in Bennett Park, near his Manhattan apartment, where he felt the need to create music that could be a counterweight to the brutal intensity ever-present in New York City.
The album stems from the idea that we all live and die by water. It is loosely inspired by William Randolph Hearst’s poem “The Song of the River” and the thought that all humanity is united by the same basic needs — if we only look beyond the differences so viscerally emphasised in current times.
The music is deeply rooted in Mindlin’s ongoing collaboration with saxophone master Dayna Stephens, a significant figure in his growth at the Manhattan School of Music, and the compositions were written with Stephens’ sound vividly in mind. They were then refined into a coherent whole at Mindlin’s fortnightly residency at Ornithology Jazz Club, where he plays with the exceptional rhythm section of Jonas Esser and Simón Willson. That group’s sense of unity and drama is captured across this set of tunes, all written by Mindlin.
By Water will be released in January 2027 on Stephens’ label, Contagious Music.
“I wanted to write something that would tilt the scales a little, bring something of inner peace to the listener.”
Personnel
- Miles Mindlin
- Guitar
- Dayna Stephens
- Tenor saxophone
- Simón Willson
- Bass
- Jonas Esser
- Drums
All compositions by Miles Mindlin.
Recorded January 23, 2026, New York.
In the studio
Debut album
2023 · Fresh Sound New Talent
Miles Mindlin
His debut: all original compositions drawing on literature, film and music in equal measure.