Vocalist Solitaire Miles, better known as a Susie Blue from the Western Swing band Susie Blue and the Lonesome Fellas, is releasing a mini-album tribute to her long-time mentor and friend Chicago pianist Willie Pickens, who unexpectedly passed away over the winter. Before Miles became known as Susie Blue she performed and recorded standard Swing and Jazz with Pickens, who was not only her bandleader but her teacher for 25 years. Miles and Pickens recorded several sessions in Chicago between 2008 - 2010 and produced 3 jazz albums, but she only recently discovered that there were still a few unreleased songs left "in the can" that had not been published, so she had them produced and is releasing them as a mini-album as a tribute to Pickens. "I met Willie in 1993 when I was working with Von Freeman." Miles says. "I recorded my first jazz album with them in ‘94 and had been working with Willie ever since. Not only was he my accompanist, but he was my teacher, my mentor and my friend. He and his wife Irma were like foster parents to me and to so many other young musicians and singers in Chicago and it was an honor and a blessing to know them. I am very happy to release these forgotten tunes with Willie so that his friends and fans can have something new. " The four song release, titled "The Solitaire Miles Chicago Jazztets" includes two Billie Holiday favorites "You Let Me Down" and "Say it with a Kiss”, a Duke Ellington classic "Take Love Easy" and "The House of Blue Lights" by Freddie Slack. The sessions feature Chicago's best Jazz and Swing musicians, including reed Maestro Eric Schneider, trumpeter Art Davis, bassists Marlene Rosenberg and Larry Kohut, saxophonists Jim Gailloreto and Jim Massoth, and drummers Robert Shy and Phil Gratteau. "Willie was very supportive when I wandered away from straight-ahead Jazz and moved into Western Swing.” Miles explains. “He even played on a few Western Swing gigs with the band, which helped me transition to the new genre. Both he and his wife Irma were very supportive of the Lonesome Fellas Project, when many of my Jazz friends and fans were not as encouraging. I wouldn't be the Western Swing singer that I am today without Willie’s kindness and support, and there would not be a Susie Blue without Willie Pickens." Western Swing fans can be assured that Miles has no ambition to resume her straight-ahead Jazz persona, but only wants to remember her long-time friend and teacher by releasing the mini-album. She plans on returning to the studio this summer with her Lonesome Fellas to record their 2nd Western Swing release, which will be dedicated to his memory. "Vocalist Solitaire Miles comes out of the Patsy Cline tradition. She sings Western swing material with warm highs and holds her lows neatly. There's a jazziness about Miles's phrasing, but she holds fast to a sound reminiscent of roadside bars where just three people are left near closing at the pinball machine." Wall Street Journal "Solitaire Miles has a lively vocal style that brings to mind a winning blend of Patsy Cline and Billie Holiday. " - Downbeat Magazine “Solitaire Miles has a voice that makes you think she’s opened a hole in the fabric of time and stepped right out of 1939." - J. M. Reid - the Kent Observer "Miles has a similar voice to Kay Starr and uses it to great affect. " - Rick Meek, Blue Suede News Magazine "Miles knows that the best way to authenticate songs is to inhabit them entirely. By investing them with her own personality, as did her predecessors of the 1940s and 50s, she can make them sound nearly as fresh as they did when first performed. Miles sings the melodies and swings the rhythms with just enough lilt, letting her smoky voice carry the day. " - Neil Tesser "Solitaire Miles takes you back to the days of Kay Starr, with her husky voice paired with Chicago's best jazz musicians. All of the tunes are between 2-4 minutes, so you feel like you’re listening to tunes at the juke box on the counter alongside your hash browns. This band takes you to a place you want to be." - George W Harris, Jazz Weekly