In Coltrane’s Tracks : The Jazz Great’s Work Inspires Bassist Art Davis, in Seal Beach Sunday

Powerhouse bassist Art Davis says that no musical collaboration has surpassed his performances in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s with saxophone legend John Coltrane.

“It was like you were in heaven,” Davis said. “There was no tension. No one was trying to outdo anyone. There was a camaraderie that you rarely see.”

Davis, a confidante of the tenor great who died in 1967, recorded three albums with Coltrane: “Ole Coltrane,” “Africa/Brass” (Vols. 1 and 2) and “Ascension.” He performed with the saxophonist’s groups, sometimes with another bassist such as Reggie Workman, occasionally as part of a quartet, as when he played with Coltrane at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1961.

Davis’ affection for the horn man continues when he leads his own group, as he will Sunday at Spaghettini in Seal Beach, where there’ll be plenty of Coltrane material on the menu.

“His music is inspirational, and it gives me a sense of well being,” said Davis, a native of Harrisburg, Pa., and an Orange County resident since 1986.

“His songs leave a lot of space for improvisation,” said Davis, 60, speaking by phone from the Costa Mesa home he shares with his wife, Gladys. “These tunes are a bit challenging in that they make a person play hard, explore more, seek out more improvisation facets. In doing so, there’s a tendency for people to solo longer than they [usually] would.”

Davis said he will play lesser-known Coltrane material on Sunday, including such tunes as “The Wise One,” “Welcome,” “Africa,” “Compassion” and “Love.”

“There are so many good tunes that he wrote that I want to get some of the more obscure tunes to the forefront,” Davis said.

In addition, the bassist will offer some of his own originals, from the Latin-flavored “Everybody’s Doin’ It” to a three-part suite, “A Time Remembered,” patterned after the music played at a New Orleans funeral. A slow movement opens the piece, which mirrors the graveside ceremony.

“Then there’s ‘Hope,’ ” said Davis, “and finally, in a manner of ‘When the Saints Go Marching In,’ there’s ‘Joy,’ which is like a wake.”

Those two are among works Davis recorded in January with a quartet of Herbie Hancock (piano), Ravi Coltrane (tenor saxophone) and Marvin (Smitty) Smith (drums). The album is due in September on Classic Records, an audiophile line, though Davis has hopes of placing it with a major label later.

At Spaghettini, Davis will perform with a foursome featuring saxophonist Phil Vieux, drummer Sonship Theus and pianist Alan Pasqua (subbing for regular Nate Morgan). The bassist said the band personifies “the East Coast aggressiveness, that hard-driving energy.”

The leader believes he has found two able colleagues in Vieux, who has played with the group Black/Note, and Theus, known for his work with pianist McCoy Tyner.

“I met Phil at a master class I gave at the World Stage in Los Angeles,” Davis said. “It was a year ago, and he was just 22, but I knew he would be something, and he is.

“I have been playing with Sonship since 1987, when we played together at the Studio Cafe in Balboa. I have been spoiled, having played with the best drummers in the world,” referring to his stints with, among others, Elvin Jones, Max Roach, Roy Haynes and Art Blakey, “and he’s right up there. He’s very musical, like Max, and he really listens to the soloists.”

Davis started out as a tuba player, then took up bass in 1951. From 1953 to 1956, he studied in New York at the Juilliard and Manhattan schools of music and became one of the town’s most active players, recording with Coltrane, Blakey, Freddie Hubbard and many others. In the mid-’60s to early ‘70s, he focused on studio work as a member of the NBC and CBS network staff orchestras.

He began to study psychology in 1972, eventually receiving a doctorate in clinical psychology from New York University in 1981.

“I was always fascinated with the mind,” he said. “I get pleasure when I can effect a change for good in a person.”

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In California, Davis has a small private practice that allows him to continue his jazz performances.

Davis also is a teacher, taking part in various jazz programs in secondary schools in both Los Angeles and Orange counties.

He gets great rewards from exposing students to music.

“So many schools have no music, and I’m trying to foster an interest,” he said. “This could keep people off the street. If you have an instrument, it gives you something to do and you get self-esteem. I get so much satisfaction from teaching.”

* Bassist Art Davis leads his quartet on Sunday, 6:30 to 10:30 p.m., at Spaghettini, 3005 Old Ranch Parkway, Seal Beach. No cover, no minimum. Call: (310) 596-2199.