It is said by reliable sources that Parker showed much respect for Davey when they were on that Kenton tour together in '54.According to John Carisi, one of the qualities that made him so
special was the "soul" in his playing, and if you immerse yourself in his music, you will will hear what John meant. Davey had somethingvery personal and deep. some of my favorite moments of his on disc are on a few George Handy records from the mid-50's - some of which may

have been reissued on the Fresh sounds label. I'm not sure. I know that Davey gave me a cassette of one years ago that he was particlularly fond of. To use an overused and sometimes vague term, "spiritual" is an adjective that comes to mind when thinking about davey's playing. He does not deal in licks and phrases - he creates in a linear fashion and really floated above the regular demarcations (if that sounds Prez, it's no accident. He loved Lester's playing and always talked about it).He was an original in many extramusical ways, too, and the unfortunate manifestation of some of those tendencies resulted in his absence from the jazz world. He was a devoted family man who had difficulty keeping a career going while having a wife and child at home.He also had a life long obsession with extra-terrestail objects, of which he was a

serious student.Allan Lowe recorded Davey in the 80's, and tried very hard to get him back into the jazz orbit. I got to work with him several nights through our mutual friend Bill Triglia. One memorable gig was an extended New Year's Eve party where I played piano and he played tenor (you should hear him on tenor on Eddie Bert's School Days record in the 50's with Hank Jones -classic!!). I taped that night. I also have a tape of another concert I did with Davey with (I believe) and Mel Lewis, Marky Markowitz, Dick Katz and Eddie Bert, in addition to a few more. He also played at the uptown Birdland with Eddie Bert and Duke Jordan - I think that came out on Uptown Records.There is also an extended interview on the topic of Lester and Bird that I did with Davey in 1981 that I have to get around and publish some day. It aired on WKCR here in NYC back in the 80's a few times.I tell you all this so you know that he was documented way beyond that one Miles session. He recorded with Kenton, Oscar Pettfiord, Tony Bennett and may others. Sometimes the bebop alto legend stuff is

overplayed, and some have made careers out of it.... Schildkraut was the real thing, trust me.

Loren Schoenberg

Photos kindly shared by Dave's nephew Irwin Nozick

 

 Dave Schildkraut with wife Goldie