associated_acts years_active name background instrument birth_date genre article_title birth_name occupation
count basie orchestra late 1960s & mdash ; present butch miles non_vocal_instrumentalist drum set 4 july 1944 jazz butch miles
 charles j. thorton , jr. . drummer
butch miles

butch miles -lrb- born charles j. thorton , jr. on july 4 , 1944 , in ironton , ohio -rrb- is an american jazz drummer .
he has played with the count basie orchestra , dave brubeck , ella fitzgerald , sammy davis jr. , and frank sinatra , among others .
miles , who cites buddy rich , gene krupa , and jo jones as favorite drummers , began playing snare drum at the age of nine and majored in music at west virginia state university -lrb- 1962 -- 66 -rrb- .
after receiving his degree , he went on tour with the iris bell trio .
miles was with the count basie orchestra from 1975 to 1979 and returned for ten years from 1997 to 2007 , and leader of the group jazz express in the 1980s and '90s .
he has also performed at the newport and montreux jazz festivals .
butch miles is a member of the west virginia music hall of fame 2011 class of inductees .
he is currently a professor in the school of music at texas state university-san marcos .
in the first week of march 2014 butch was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis which has no treatment other than a lung transplant .
on july 29 , 2014 he received a lung transplant and went into a period of recovery at his home in buda , tx .
