"D'Addario strings have been in my life for over three decades. Because of the variety of music that I play, I need tools that are consistent, reliable, and durable. D'Addario checks those boxes, giving me a setup where I can get my sound at any time without any hassle."
Miles Okazaki
Trickster
"Nickel Bronze are nice and loud, and I'm able to project a huge sound from them, as well as grab harmonics and other extended techniques.
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"Pro-Arté Nylon have a beautiful sound and are very responsive to rhythmic playing, such as Brazilian music, which is one of the things that I love to do on classical guitar."
PRODUCTS Miles Okazaki USES
ABOUT Miles Okazaki
Miles Okazaki is a NYC-based guitarist originally from Port Townsend, a small seaside town in Washington State. His approach to the guitar is described by the New York Times as "utterly contemporary, free from the expectations of what it means to play a guitar in a group setting - not just in jazz, but any kind." His sideman experience over the last two decades covers a broad spectrum, from standards to experimental music.
Miles has released nine albums of original compositions over the last 12 years on the Sunnyside, Pi, and Cygnus labels. His main working band is Trickster, an abstract funk band that has released four albums. In 2018, Okazaki received wide critical acclaim for his six-album recording of the complete compositions of Thelonious Monk for solo guitar, an unprecedented project that Nate Chinen called "the six-string equivalent of a free solo climb up El Capitan." That year, Okazaki was voted the #1 rising star guitarist in the Downbeat Magazine critic's poll. Other projects include a longstanding duo with drummer Dan Weiss, a duo with percussionist Rajna Swaminathan, and a published book, Fundamentals of Guitar, with Mel Bay.
Okazaki taught guitar and rhythmic theory at the University of Michigan from 2013-22, joined the faculty at Princeton University in 2021, and holds degrees from Harvard University, Manhattan School of Music, and the Juilliard School.