Miles Davis on Letterman, December 11, 1987

Miles Davis performs "We Three Kings of Orient Are" with the World's Most Dangerous Band, and David Sanborn and Marcus Miller.

Someone else has uploaded this but there's a video "skip" towards the end. Here's the full version.

Anton Fig on this memorable night:

(1) Record-Journal, Meriden, Conn., October 13, 1995
"Drummer Anton Fig Has Got the Beat" by Orla Swift:

Fig is tested daily as he backs Letterman's varied guests. But perhaps his biggest test was when the late jazz legend Miles Davis took the stage.

"I think he's one of the most important musicians of the 20th century," says Fig. "I listen to him so much. He changed the nature of music so many times. We're lucky if someone changes the course once, but he did it about five times. So when I played with him, I had every reason to be panicked out of my brain, but I said to myself, ‘I've worked so hard to get to this spot; there's no point being nervous about it.' And I felt like I was sitting in the eye of the hurricane, right in the center, and I was completely calm when I was playing with him."

"Afterwards, I went to meet him, and he said to me, ‘You've got a good feel for the drums.' Since I think the feel is the most important thing, it validated my whole musical experience. I just said, ‘Thanks a lot.' I figured I could die peacefully."

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(2) St. Petersburg Times September 2, 2002
"My Jam Session with Anton Fig" by Billy Norris:

"The time I had the opportunity to play with Miles Davis was incredible for me because I consider him one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. I got there that night, and they actually had a drum machine on a velvet table -- you know it was like the esteemed drum machine (laughs). They had me play with the drum machine, then they put it away, and then they had me play with sticks, then brushes, and by then I thought 'okay, I'm down to virtually nothing, I'm gone.' But, I ended up sticking with the brushes, and it was quite a memorable experience being that close to such a musical genius."

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(3) South Florida's Entertainment News and Views, August 30 -September 5. 2002
"Rocking with Anton Fig," by Manual Pila:

...But the moment of truth that keeps coming back to him as the ultimate highlight is playing with Miles Davis live and unrehearsed before a TV audience of millions.

"I asked him what he wanted me to play,” Fig recalls. “And he sang some guttural thing, like, ruff ruff. And this was his musical direction. But I sort of got a vibe about what he wanted. And I did the performance with Marcus Miller, Sanborn, Miles, and Will Lee and Paul Shaffer. Then in the dressing room he was talking to me, and he said, ‘Well, you’ve got a good feel for those drums.’ To me, Miles Davis telling me that I had a good feel…”

Fig tapers off. “I carry that phrase with me all the time. If I’m in a session and I’m having a tough time, I can say, well, it’s not working, but when I played for Miles, it was good enough for him. It was an incredible boost of confidence for me to carry for the rest of my life.”

Видео Miles Davis on Letterman, December 11, 1987 канала Don Giller