Being the saxophonist in a Miles Davis band was never the easiest job in the world.Even if he liked you, he often led by challenging his musicians, giving them enigmatic or even contradictory instructions.
Once, when saxophonist Gary Bartz complained that he didn’t like what Keith Jarrett was playing behind him, and asked Davis to rein the keyboardist in, the trumpeter instead told Jarrett that Bartz loved was he was playing and wanted to hear more of it.When John Coltrane earnestly explained to Davis that he was having trouble figuring out how to end his solos, Davis replied, “Try taking the horn out of your mouth.” Dave Liebman, Davis’ saxophonist for a period in the early ’70s, felt lost within the band’s stormy sound (two electric guitars, deep funk bass, multiple percussionists, Davis’s own piercing one-finger synth stabs) and asked what his role was; the trumpeter replied that audiences liked to watch a saxophonist’s fingers move while he played.
Some saxophonists, like Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, and Kenny Garrett, spent years in the band.Others, like Hank Mobley or Sam Rivers, only played a few dates and then went back to what they were doing before, leaving just a few brilliant records behind — Someday My Prince Will Come, The Complete Friday And Saturday Nights At The Blackhawk and Miles Davis At Carnegie Hall in Mobley’s case, Miles In Tokyo in Rivers’.
Sonny Stitt’s tenure as a member of Davis’ group went entirely unrecorded.In 1962, Davis began working with tenor saxophonist George Coleman, a player from Memphis who had already made a name for himself with Max Roach, Lee Morgan, and Jimmy Smith, among others.
He was a strong player with a grounding in bebop and a deep feeling for the blues.They first played together at the Blackhawk in San Francisco, in a group that also included Coleman’s high school friend, pianist Harold Mabern.
Back in New York the following year, Davis began assembling a new band, recruiting pi...