Biography
Miles Shannon, performing as Cassowary, sings, plays keyboards, and handles saxophone duties while crafting an immersive, hallucinatory blend of jazz, funk, stripped-down electronics, hip-hop, and R&B threaded with psychedelic hues. That expansive approach first surfaced on his self-titled 2020 debut.
Shannon entered the world in Inglewood, California, and spent his formative years in Los Angeles, where he distinguished himself on saxophone at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. Under the guidance of tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III, he shared stages with such jazz figures as Gary Smulyan, Eric Reed, Gerald Clayton, and Terrell Stafford. Although he once contemplated a formal music education, he instead relocated to New York after graduation to test himself in the city’s club scene. By then, however, his focus had already pivoted from straight-ahead jazz toward a hybrid of jazz and R&B-tinged pop. While gigging at jazz venues, he began writing material inspired by Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Prince, Miles Davis, A Tribe Called Quest, Pink Floyd, and additional touchstones.
Five months later he headed back to Los Angeles and immersed himself in the region’s funk, hip-hop, and turntablism communities. There he renewed ties with childhood acquaintance Thebe Kgositsile, better known as Earl Sweatshirt, and contributed piano to the 2015 release I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside. Further performances ensued, culminating in the April 2020 arrival of the wide-ranging album Cassowary on Fat Possum Records, which featured the tracks “Belt Notch!,” “She Funked Me,” and “Cyclical” with Tyler Cole.
Shannon entered the world in Inglewood, California, and spent his formative years in Los Angeles, where he distinguished himself on saxophone at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. Under the guidance of tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III, he shared stages with such jazz figures as Gary Smulyan, Eric Reed, Gerald Clayton, and Terrell Stafford. Although he once contemplated a formal music education, he instead relocated to New York after graduation to test himself in the city’s club scene. By then, however, his focus had already pivoted from straight-ahead jazz toward a hybrid of jazz and R&B-tinged pop. While gigging at jazz venues, he began writing material inspired by Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Prince, Miles Davis, A Tribe Called Quest, Pink Floyd, and additional touchstones.
Five months later he headed back to Los Angeles and immersed himself in the region’s funk, hip-hop, and turntablism communities. There he renewed ties with childhood acquaintance Thebe Kgositsile, better known as Earl Sweatshirt, and contributed piano to the 2015 release I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside. Further performances ensued, culminating in the April 2020 arrival of the wide-ranging album Cassowary on Fat Possum Records, which featured the tracks “Belt Notch!,” “She Funked Me,” and “Cyclical” with Tyler Cole.
Albums
Singles
