 He joined the musicians union at age nine in 1956 as a child prodigy drummer/pianist/vibist appearing with Miles Davis and John Coltrane among other talents of the day live and on TV shows including "To Tell the Truth", Dick Van Dyke's variety show, and "The Andy Williams Show".He made his solo artist debut recording at age fourteen in 1961, "Miles Of Genius", as drummer and composer with sidemen Al Hall and Duke Jordan.Miles continued to perform with his own band in the early 1960s in which he composed the material that enabled up and coming talents such as Woody Shaw, Eddie Gómez and Robin Kenyatta to display their talents.