and George Russell (1968); drummer Art Taylor (1968); and trombonist Melba Liston (1969). During this time he also participated in recording sessions with Bley, Hill (Andrew!!! and Compulsion), Pete La Roca (Turkish Women at the Bath), McCoy Tyner (Today and Tomorrow) and a handful of others. In 1970, he co-led a recording with Jamaican trumpeter Dizzy Reece. His main focus throughout, however, remained with the Sun Ra Arkestra. Devotion to Sun Ra and his band Gilmore's devotion to Sun Ra was due, in part, to the latter's use of harmony, which Gilmore considered both unique and a logical extension of bebop. Gilmore had stated that Sun Ra was "more stretched out than Monk" and that "I'm not gonna run across anybody who's moving as fast as Sun Ra ... So I just stay where I am." Gilmore occasionally doubled on drums and also played bass clarinet until Sun Ra hired Robert Cummings as a specialist on the latter instrument in the mid-1950s. However, tenor sax was his main instrument and Gilmore himself made a huge contribution to Sun Ra's recordings and was the Arkestra's leading sideman, being given solos on almost every track on which he appeared. In the Rough Guide to Jazz, Brian Priestley says: Gilmore is known for two rather different styles of tenor playing. On performances of a straight ahead post-bop character (which include many of those with Sun Ra), he runs the changes with a fluency and tone halfway between Johnny Griffin and Wardell Gray, and with a rhythmic and motivic approach which he claims influenced Coltrane. On more abstract material, he is capable of long passages based exclusively on high-register squeals. Especially when heard live, Gilmore was one of the few musicians who carried sufficient conviction to encompass both approaches. In the early 1970s, Gilmore moved to Philadelphia with Sun Ra and the other members of Arkestra. After Sun Ra died in 1993, Gilmore led Ra's Arkestra for a few years before his own death from emphysema. Marshall Allen then took over leading the Arkestra. Discography As co-leader Blowing in from Chicago (Blue Note, 1957) co-leader with Cliff Jordan, As sideman For albums with Sun Ra see the Sun Ra discography With Paul Bley Turning Point (Improvising Artists, 1975 rec. 1964) With Freddie Hubbard The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard (Impulse!, 1962) With McCoy Tyner Today and Tomorrow (Impulse!, 1963) With Elmo Hope Sounds from Rikers