Do have any thoughts on other great bassists—Charles Mingus, Ray Brown, Milt Hinton?
Well, I told those guys how I felt about them, and that’s enough for me. When you list three players out of the hundreds possible, that takes the stance that either the others are unimportant or unknown to me or are unimportant to the magazine. I kind of object to that stance—placing me in the spot to take their heat. I knew and loved those three players for a very long time, and now that they are no longer here, they know that at least one bass player on earth told them what he thought of them. What has had the greatest influence on your stylistic evolution? One of the things that helps a bass player develop a style is the amount of work he can do with a variety of groups. The more you freelance, the more you are involved with the big “M” of music, not just a jazz band. Broadway shows, concerts with orchestras, chamber groups, folk music—when I first came to New York, I was down there playing with the folk singers. It might be a duo where it’s just a bass and drums, or a quartet where
