Art Davis, Bass for Some of the Greats, Will Appear

Saxophonist John Coltrane worked with several bassists during his revolutionary career, but he told a biographer that the one who produced a sound closest to what he wanted was Art Davis.

Davis, who plays Diego’s Loft in Pacific Beach this Sunday, remains relatively unknown, even though he played on a variety of Coltrane sessions, including the “Ascension” album and the original, never released, version of the sax master’s anthem, “A Love Supreme.”

Despite his obvious prowess, Davis hasn’t been able to land a recording deal since the 1985 album “Life,” largely unavailable.

“My main musical pursuit now is to get something of my own,” said Davis, who lives in Corona Del Mar and makes part of his living teaching jazz at Orange Coast College and playing with the Orange Coast College Symphony.

Davis also has a doctorate in psychology. He has counseled in the past and is thinking of getting back into the therapy business.

“A dozen musicians have called for counseling, but, because of my teaching duties, I haven’t taken them on yet.”

Davis has worked with Lena Horne, Judy Garland, Etta James, Abbey Lincoln, Barbra Streisand, Harry Belafonte, John Denver and Bob Dylan, plus a variety of symphony orchestras.

During the late 1950s, he played in drummer Max Roach’s band, winning the job when he sat in for his tardy predecessor, then spent two years with Dizzy Gillespie. As the story goes, Davis was working a jazz festival in France, with Gillespie when fellow bassist Oscar Pettiford introduced Davis as “my favorite bass player” and asked him to sit in, an honor Pettiford rarely bestowed.

Davis played in the New York Philharmonic during the 1960s, but left after a drawn-out dispute over whether he received less work than other musicians because he is black. This gave him a reputation as a troublemaker, and when work became scarce, he went back to school to earn the psychology degree.

Davis is known as a powerful player with a big tone and amazing dexterity enhanced by his years of classical work,. He will be joined by saxophonist Michael Sessions, trumpeter Richard Williams and drummer Gordon Peekes, all sidemen for pianist Horace Tapscott.

This is the third and final segment of jazz promoter Bob Geib’s “Innovations in Modern Music” series. Shows are at 7 and 9.

Singer Carmen McRae’s new album is a collection of songs by enigmatic jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, with some especially fine bass work by George Mraz. McRae will undoubtedly include a few of these tunes when she hits the Grandstand Stage at the Del Mar Fair this afternoon at 2. At 70, McRae still possesses a voice facile enough to handle Monk’s quirky melodies. McRae matured in the big bands of Count Basie, Benny Carter and Mercer Ellington during the 1940s, but she made major inroads as a solo artist in the 1950s. Not one for frills, McRae uses her voice as an instrument to interpret jazz’s great songs with a straightforward, gutsy flair.

KIFM celebrates its 15th anniversary Sunday afternoon from noon until 7 with a free party at the new Hyatt Regency in La Jolla. Among the entertainers will be Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin, Patti Austin, Fattburger, Yutaka, Tim Weisberg and Hank Easton.

A mainstay of the station’s longevity has been the light-jazz-oriented “Lites Out” program started by Art Good and Bruce Walton in 1982. Larry Himmel carried on during the mid-1980s after Good left, but Good returned last year after the demise of KSWV-FM (102.9), where he had a similar show.

Station Vice President of Programing Bob O’Connor said it was the “Offramp” album by guitarist Pat Metheny that really launched “Lites Out.” “We’d get 50 calls every time we played something from it.”

In the winter Arbitron radio ratings, KIFM climbed from No. 6 to No. 3 among local stations for listeners 25 to 54 years old between 6 a.m. and midnight. O’Connor attributes the rise to a broadening of the format since he returned to the station last October after working in Chicago. KIFM thrives on a daytime diet of “adult contemporary,” at the rate of eight instrumental and four vocal tracks per hour, from a variety of light jazz, pop and rock artists, with nights devoted to “Lites Out” jazz.

To attend the party, you’ll need a ticket, which you can obtain by listening to the station or attending one of its promotional events.

RIFFS: Laid-back singer Mose Allison moseys through a set of signature songs on KPBS-TV’s “Club Date” program Saturday night at 11, repeating Monday night at 11:30. . . .

Singer and pianist Jimmy Rowles, a longtime jazzman who worked with Lester Young, Ben Webster and Billie Holiday, is featured this Sunday night at 7 on KSDS-FM’s (88.3) “Le Jazz Club” program. . . .

Local saxophonist Mark Lessman, whose self-produced CD is in local music stores, plays the B Street Cafe & Bar downtown tonight through Saturday night. . . .

Guitarist Peter Sprague can be heard with drummer Duncan Moore and bassist Kevin Hennesy tonight at the Full Moon Cafe in Encinitas from 7 to 10, Friday night with flutist Holly Hofmann at the Horton Grand Hotel downtown, and Saturday from 7 to 9 at High Castle Lodge in Idyllwild. . . .

On Saturday night, Hofmann teams with seven-string guitarist Art Johnson at the Horton Grand. . . .

The Mellotones will celebrate the Fourth of July with a free 4 p.m. set of Ellington tunes at the San Diego Convention Center’s outdoor amphitheater. . . .

Fattburger supplies the music for this Sunday’s San Diego Bay brunch cruises aboard the Entertainer, leaving from 1066 N. Harbor Drive at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.