Miles Davis could be unforgiving in his critics, but I like to think that his ability to change his mind allowed artists he ripped apart to not take it personal

Miles Davis could be unforgiving in his critics, but I like to think that his ability to change his mind allowed artists he ripped apart to not take it personally. Take for instance his comments on Dolphy, who was by then already considered very gifted by the likes of Charles Mingus and John Coltrane: http://www.forghieri.net/jazz/blind/Davis_3.html http://www.forghieri.net/jazz/blind/Davis_3.html That's got to be Eric Dolphy - nobody else could sound that bad! The next time I see him I'm going to step on his foot. You print that. I think he's ridiculous. He's a sad motherfucker. Then the irony https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Dolphy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Dolphy Carter, Hancock and Williams would go on to become one of the quintessential rhythm sections of the decade, both together on their own albums and as the backbone of Miles Davis's second great quintet. This aspect of the second great quintet is an ironic footnote for Davis, who was critical of Dolphy's music: in a 1964 Down Beat "Blindfold Test", Miles quipped: "The next time I see [Dolphy] I'm going to step on his foot."[57] However, Davis new quintet's rhythm section had all worked under Dolphy, thus creating a band whose brand of "out" was strongly influenced by Dolphy.