The strange thing is, that usually if you have played for a time with a big jazz legend, you made it, you got your own band, your own record contract and everything, like all of the Ex-Miles-Men, and the Ex Blakey Men, and of course dozens of ex Mingus-Men, but it was not the case for the men who played with Mingus when I saw Mingus: Neither Walrath, neither Ford, nor Bob Neloms became big names in jazz, well Muse was a hard to find label in most European contries I must admit..... but my impression was that it concentrated on lesser well paid acoustic jazz men in the 70´s, maybe I´m wrong but that´s how I thought about it back then......
what etnic background was Walrath ? He looks a bit like a south of the border kind of type..... they said he is white and that black militants got on Mingus´ case why he booked a white player in an all black band, but he looks like he might have had another etnic background....
That´s one side about Miles I don´t like.
When I first saw him more than 50 years ago, I had thought and read, that this is a more angry, but very silent guy who just doesn´t like to talk, and it is expressed thru the sound of loneliness in his trumpet, which was very evident not only in the old days but also when I heard it, with all them electric echipments....,
So later when I heard some things he said I was quite shocked, and since I know that he loved Dizzy all his live, he just should have SHUT UP instead of tellin stupid lies and untrue things. I mean it is a no go to talk bad things about fellow musicians.