A short list of musicians I most regret never hearing live: King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band with Louis Armstrong in 1923, the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1940 and 1960, Charlie Parker c. 1953, the Miles Davis Sextet with Red Garland and Philly Joe Jones in 1958, the John Coltrane Quartet in 1965.
And I can’t leave out the George Adams-Don Pullen Quartet.
During the decade it lasted, from 1979 to 1989, the quartet was among the best working bands of its time. Adams on tenor sax, flute, and vocals; Pullen on piano; Cameron Brown on bass; Dannie
