[1] He then pursued a musical career, beginning as a tenor saxophonist on a national tour with the Harlem Globetrotters in an ensemble that included pianist Earl Hines in 1952.

[6] During this period Gilmore also performed with jazz drummer Wilbur Campbell (1958), trumpeter Miles Davis (1959), saxophonist Johnny Griffin (1959), singer Dinah Washington (1959), and pianist Andrew Hill (1959); the latter of whom he had gone to school with as a boy in Chicago.

and Compulsion), Pete La Roca (Turkish Women at the Bath), McCoy Tyner (Today and Tomorrow) and a handful of others.

"[8] 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.

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.

With Sun Ra With Paul Bley With Freddie Hubbard With McCoy Tyner With Elmo Hope With Andrew Hill With Art Blakey With Pete La Roca With Phil Upchurch With Dizzy Reece Arkestra members