'The thing about Sonny is that when he didn't like what was happening on stage, he would say so but not specifically. Well, not always. Before Sonny, I had played with more free musicians, like Oliver Lake and Michael Gregory Jackson. I listened to Dave Holland, Anthony Braxton, I loved this interaction with the leaders. You could hear it in my playing. Sonny didn't want that. Sometimes, if I was a little too present, he would signal me to return to my place as bassist in the rhythm section. Generally speaking, it wasn't that accurate. It was up to you to figure out what was wrong and find a solution. This is why many musicians called him old school. Sometimes it was very frustrating when me and the other members of the group didn't understand what he wanted. For example, during a tour in Japan. The group consisted of Sammy Figueroa on congas, Mark Soskin on piano, Clifton Anderson on trombone, Al Foster on drums. We were playing “The Cutting Edge.” Sonny does his solo and sometimes he misses an eighth note. Me, I wonder if I go with Sonny or if I stay with Al. Does the rhythm adapt to Sonny or will Sonny adapt to us? The situation became very uncomfortable on several occasions. Once we were on a plane, Sonny came back from business class to see me and handed me a paper. He had written: “Just play the ostinato.” OK! Despite this, the problem was not resolved. I asked Al if it was me. He told me it was Sonny. In fact, when you play, you are listening to both your inner self and the band. Sometimes you may have an absence. I ended up dreading playing this piece. As he left the stage, Sonny was furious. Sammy once tried to very diplomatically say that the problem was with him, but not explicitly. This was the last tour Sammy did with Sonny for many years. He never said why. He later fired Mark and me. We learned that he was playing a concert at the Bottom Line in New York with another bassist and another pianist. We were out of the band for three and a half years, from 1981 to 1983. And then, in the summer of 1984, he called us back and asked us to come back. Did this have to do with what happened with “The Cutting Edge”? I never asked him Jerome HARRIS, jazzmagazine, France, 2015
I saw the Milestone Jazzstars live in 1978, was amazed then, and have always loved all of their tunes. But today I found the original recording of The Cutting Edge. It's nice to hear the original, but McCoy Tyner and Ron Carter give the tune a much Sharper Edge! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xL8KHnIUsb8.html
