I first met Dave when he came to Barcelona in 1982 to teach in some workshops in the third jazz seminar organized by the Taller de Musics (3er Seminario de Jazz Taller De Musics). I was an attendee at the workshops and at 17 years old I was still a beginner in the jazz language while Dave was already a veteran of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Dave’s playing was beautiful: lyrical, intense, funny at times, and firmly rooted in the blues and bebop (I would say that at moments it could remind you of Dexter Gordon). He was also unmistakably part of a generat ion of post-Coltrane tenor players who were following Coltrane’s example of expanding the tonal system and searching for different harmonic colours (I believe Wayne Shorter was a big influence too). Besides Dave’s playing, just his presence was a constant source of inspiration. He was like nobody else: so radically himself, fearless, witty, and intellectually curious. He had a zany sense of humor and seemed to love creating socially awkward and surreal situations. At the same time, he was always positive, generous, encouraging, and sweet to all the young musicians and wannabe jazz cats who looked up to him. He was never preachy.Listening to him play and having the opportunity to play with him in workshops was an unforgettable and life-changing experience.

Dave came back to Barcelona in 1983 and decided to stay for some time. Over the following five years, Dave spent a lot of time in Barcelona, Valencia and the Canary Islands but mostly he was on the road around Spain playing with local rhythm sections. He also taught in jazz seminars in Madrid, Sevilla, Granada, and Cadiz. This was an enormous gift to the incipient Spanish jazz scene. I’m sure that everyone who was around at the time would agree that Dave’s presence, along with that of other great American musicians like Sean Levitt and Michael Kaupa, was essential to the quantum leap that ensued. Dave played with young local musiciansand showed us by example “how it is done.” He boosted our confidence by trusting us to deliver on the bandstand.

When I look back on those times, I realise the enormity of the influence that Dave’s presence had on my life and that of my peers. Dave’s mastery of the music and his genero sity with up-and-coming musicians were perfect examples of what jazz culture has to offer to humanity. In my case, for example, he invited me to stay in his apartment in New York for a month in 1987 on my very first trip to the city. I can’t stop myself from saying that in a moment in history where we can clearly see the catastrophic results of a belief system based on “me first ” and where success is defined as being the “best” and leaving every body else behind, the values that jazz can offer provide a potential alternative that might help save us from this nonsense.

All jazz musicians and lovers of the music know that you can be a completely unique individual and express the essence of your soul in every note precisely because your playing is fully focused on serving the music and the band. We know that human beings find meaning and happiness through being helpful to the community around them. Once we can forget about our fears and petty desire to shine and focus on what we can give to everyone around us, we find not only gratitude and security in the love and appreciation of our community, but we also discover what it is that we can offer and how we can fully express ourselves in a way that is relevant. Happiness and fulfilment are bound to follow. Dave, like all the true Jazz Masters we love and admire, exemplifies these values and this way of life.

Playing with Dave in this recording session after all these years was a profoundly inspiring and moving experience for me. His haunting sound and wild imagination are in full force in this music. It was a great pleasure sharing the experience with Masa Kamaguchi and Yaniv Taubenhouse, two great jazz musicians from different generations and cultures.

—Jorge Rossy