Davis drew the rhythm sections of his various sextets and quintets from a
small pool of players, pianists Garland, Bill Evans (1958-1959), and Wynton
Kelly, drummers Jones and Jimmy Cobb, and bass player Chambers (Dewey pp).
In 1963 Davis engaged a new rhythm section as the center of another quintet
with Herbie Hancock (1963-1968), Ron Carter (1963-1968), and Tony Williams
(1963-1969), and to "replace Coltrane, who had left in 1960, Davis tried a
succession of saxophonists, including Sonny Stitt, Jimmy Heath, Hank Mobley
(1961), George Coleman (1963-1964), and Sam Rivers; ultimately he settled
on Wayne Shorter (1964-1970)" (Dewey pp). Due to his irascible temperament
and his need for frequent periods of inactivity, "these sidemen were by no
means entirely faithful to Davis," however, the groups of 1955-1968 were
more stable than his later ones of 1969-1975, which included Chick Corea,
Joe Zawinul, Keith Jarrett, John McLaughlin, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette,
Bill Cobham, Al Foster, and Airto Moreira (Dewey pp). As with his previous
...