After returning to Chicago in 1978, Irving connected with a number of young musicians, including Vince Wilburn Jr. and Darryl Jones who would later join him in the Miles Davis band.

In those roles, Irving listened to recordings of each night's performance with Davis to cull what were spontaneous creative ideas ... that then became a permanent part of the group's musical arrangements.

He has performed, as leader and sideman, with a list of musicians that includes David Murray, Wallace Roney, Eddie Henderson, Lenny White, and fellow Miles Davis alumni Darryl Jones, Vince Wilburn Jr., and Al Foster.

Irving released his first solo album in 1988, Midnight Dream, which featured John Scofield, Darryl Jones, Buddy Williams, André Lassalle and Phil Perry.

In addition, Irving recorded as leader and music director of the Davis alumni bands ESP and ESP2, on a number of David Murray albums, as a member of Khalil El Zabar's Juba Collective, and with Wallace Roney.

An excerpt of a The Billboard Review article - April 7, 2007 (by Dan Ouellette): Conspicuously absent as a leader since serving as Miles Davis’ fusion-oriented musical director in the ‘80s, Robert Irving III returns in dramatic fashion on “New Momentum,” the premiere release for indie Sonic Portraits.

The disc is largely an acoustic piano trio date, highlighted by Irving originals and two nods to his mentor’s ‘60s repertoire: a buoyant cover of Davis’ “Seven Steps to Heaven” and a refined take on Wayne Shorter’s “Nefertiti”.

What’s so remarkable about Irving’s return from obscurity is the fresh, vital sound spurred by his pianistic dynamism, and infused with an imaginative improvisational approach that encompasses dancing tempo shifts and harmonic curves.

Bassist Buster Williams costars, with arco support on the ballad “Primordial Waters”, low-end punch to the title track and a walking bass conversation with Irving on the midtempo groove tune “Always .

Sometimes”.Robert Irving III conducted the debut performance of his “Sonic Portraits Orchestra” in the world premiere of “Sketches of Brazil to a record crowd of 12,500 people, receiving several standing ovations.

Chicago Tribune Critic Howard Reich said of Irving's work, “Extraordinarily ambitious… a tour de force of orchestral writing.” This project, although videotaped with five cameras and professional audio recording, has not yet been released.

[4] With Miles Davis With Ramsey Lewis With David Murray With Wallace Roney Other recordings Robert Irving III is a recipient of the Chicago Music Awards, and Lifetime Achievement Award for 2015 Excerpts from Robert Irving III's memoir, entitled, "Harmonic Possibilities" were published by New York University's Institute of African-American Affairs publication Black Renaissance Noire Magazine in the Fall 2013 issue.