When the John Coltrane Quintet visited Britain in 1961 with the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet, on a Jazz at The Philharmonic tour, he sat down with a few different journalists during the tour. Jazz News, which was a weekly music paper, published their interview in late December. This was the first and only time Trane was in the country. JAZZ NEWS — Wednesday, December 27th 1961 WHEN I first joined Miles in 1955 I had a lot to learn. I felt I was lacking in general musicianship. I had all kinds of technical prob- lems, for example, I didn’t have the right mouthpiece, and I hadn’t the necessary harmonic understanding. I am quite ashamed of those early records I made with Miles. Why he picked me, I don’t know. Maybe he saw something in my playing that he hoped would grow. I had this desire, which I think we all have, to be as original as I could, and as honest as I could be. But there were so many musical conclusions I hadn’t arrived at, that I felt in- adequate. All this was naturally fru...
Jamo Spingal