"New" Charles Mingus CD

[Ron Thorne]

I couldn't resist ordering this 2-CD set and thought that many of my JC friends would also like to know about this special pricing ($19.98). E-mails have become expensive for me lately.

Charles Mingus : Cornell 1964

Release Date: Tuesday, July 17th An amazing new discovery. The extraordinary sextet of Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy, Clifford Jordon, Jonny Coles, Jaki Byard and Dannie Richmond in one of its first public appearances at Cornell University in upstate New York on March 18, 1964. The band went on to record at Town Hall and during its European tour, but nothing matches the buoyant joy that pervades every track here, especially a rousing, wild "Take The A Train." In addition to many well-known Mingus compositions, the band performs Dolphy's arrangement of "Jitterbug Waltz." Truly great music.

[Derek Taylor]

Ron, I think you're *really* going to like this one. I've been listening to it for the last few months & it's perched pretty much at the top of my picks thus far for '07. The 30-minute "Fables of Faubus" is probably the best I've ever heard & an added bonus is the presence of Johnny Coles. Decent sound too. Hard to believe this sat on a shelf somewhere for so long.

[Dan G]

I read an article about this recently and it is at the top of my shopping list (when I start shopping again in the fall - too many other financial commitments for summer).

It mentioned that Sue Mingus has a lot of tapes that she will be going through with the people at Blue Note, with hopes of a lot more releases.

Kind of an ugly cover though.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Dan G

Kind of an ugly cover though.

Similar to the ugly Monk & Coltrane cover.

[Jason Bivins]

I'm definitely eager to pick this one up. But don't sleep on the UCLA 1965 stuff that was released earlier this year.

[guy]

Originally Posted by Dan G

It mentioned that Sue Mingus has a lot of tapes that she will be going through with the people at Blue Note, with hopes of a lot more releases.

If EMI gets bought out by that private equity firm, she may have to go elsewhere.

But more Mingus is always good news!

Guy

[Peterdubya]

Just got it yesterday.

So far, I like a lot.

[Ron Thorne]

Sounds yummy to me!

Thanks for the reports. I'm very anxious to wrap my ears around this one.

[Peterdubya]

I listened to both discs today in my office, it's killin'. Jackie Byard!!!

[Ezra Weiss]

Awesome news, can't wait to check it out.

[justinruins]

Originally Posted by Pete C

Similar to the ugly Monk & Coltrane cover.

Hey, I like the one-line drawings of Trane and Monk on that cover!

[Scott Yanow]

One of my all-time favorite bands. I've long loved The Great Concert Of Charles Mingus and have tried to pick up everything else by this group. The new Blue Note predates all of the other performances yet it is just as good as the others. "Parkeriana" isn't here but the versions of "Fables OF Faubus," Orange Was The Color," "Meditations On Integration" and "So Long Eric" hold their own with the other ones.

In other words, it's great.

[Ron Thorne]

It arrived today and I'm spinning Disc One as I type. So far it's met or exceeded all expectations.

Mingus is obviously having a lot of fun, and his spirit and mood seems infectious, as usual. Dolphy sounds amazing . . . as usual.

More later.

[Ron Thorne]

Here's a review I just found on the BBC site.

ALBUMS

Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy, Cornell 1964


KEY TRACKS

• AFTW You
• Take The 'A' Train

REVIEW

Spring 1964 is mostly memorable to Mingus fans and jazz lovers for his famous concert on 4 April at New York's Town Hall (supposedly the first concert by this star ensemble) preceding an all-conquering tour of Europe and one monumental concert at the Monterey Jazz Festival in California.

Few people, except the students at upstate Cornell University, have ever heard this compendium of material. As Gary Giddins states in the liner notes: ‘The Cornell concert captures them in the first light of shared discovery’. That’s about to change, thanks for this two-disc Blue Note reissue. Thanks indeed, as this is the most insightful practice session you’ll ever hear.

This is Mingus at his most irresistible backed up by a truly wonderful set of players, not least pianist Jaki Byard who runs the whole gamut of styles from ‘plop plop’ Tatum abstractions on ‘‘ATFW You’’ through to downhome boogie woogie on Billy Strayhorn’s ‘’Take The “A” Train’’. Dolphy, Mingus’s cherished cohort (celebrated in life on ‘’So Long Eric’’) and the man who ‘made’ the group a sextet, is pure class and his usually meditative self; the quivering opening to ‘‘Jitterbug Waltz’’ being case in point. Richmond demonstrates on each track just why Mingus kept faith with him for so long. The rhythm section just swings without mercy…until it’s time to go somewhere else, as is so often the case with a Mingus band playing live interpretations of his compositions like ‘‘Meditations’’ (here weighing in at an engrossing 31 minutes).

Clifford Jordan (tenor sax) is the perfect romantic foil for the fearsome bass man and peripatetic composer, lyrical yet brisk and insistent on ‘‘Fables Of Faubus’’ while Johnny Coles (trumpet) basks in the undulating fields of Dolphy and Jordan’s sassy horn play. At the end of the day though, it all starts and ends with the rudder of Mingus; his incisive ability to serenade, to tickle and to excite, all in the space of one arrangement (‘‘Orange Was The Colour…’’, for instance). Whether hard bop, waltz or Irish folk song, he assimilated and refined each one. Anyone wishing to hear more should pick up the recent Complete America Sessions reissue and the Music Not Heard at UCLA from 1965. But this remains ‘bassically’ essential.

Amar Patel (2007-07-13)


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence.

If you choose to use this review on your site please link back to this page.

Link

[Robert de St. Loup]

I have a 3-hour drive to southern NJ next week. I'll be playing disc 1 all the way up and disc 2 all the way back.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Wonderful bass clarinet passage by Dolphy near the end of Fables! I don't remember him doing anything quite like this at The Paris Concert, but I'll have to check.

So far, I like this better than the Town Hall or Paris concerts.

[Mike Schwartz]

The music is spectacular, but beyond all that is the sheer joy of the encounter that comes through incredibly strong!

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

I agree, Mike, the band is obviously really digging playing with each other. Comes through in the music.

[Pete C]

The 3 filmed performances of this group from Europe will be released together on a 2-hour DVD in September:

http://jazzicons.com/pressrelease2.html

[guy]

Originally Posted by Squaredancecalling Steve

Wonderful bass clarinet passage by Dolphy near the end of Fables! I don't remember him doing anything quite like this at The Paris Concert, but I'll have to check.

So far, I like this better than the Town Hall or Paris concerts.

Which Paris concert? Revenge or The Great Concert of Charles Mingus?

Guy

[Ron Thorne]

What a terrific recording!

I completely agree with the comments regarding the joy you feel with this sextet. It's palpable.

Dolphy was on fire. If he'd never played anything but bass clarinet on this occasion, it would have been fine. And Jaki Byard . . .

No wonder Mingus kept Dannie Richmond in his bands so long.

[Mike Schwartz]

"No wonder Mingus kept Dannie Richmond in his bands so long."

Ron;
It goes way beyond that...
Mingus groomed Richmond to become *his* drummer from the time he (Richmond) was a teenager!

[Pete C]

Yeah, Richmond was a saxophonist when Mingus found him.

[Ron Thorne]

Pete, have you heard this recording?

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Ron Thorne

Pete, have you heard this recording?

Not yet. I've probably heard most of the European tour though. One of the best gigs is the Stuttgart date, which I don't believe was ever released. As a teenager I used to play Dolphy's Meditations bass clarinet solo from Town Hall Concert over and over until I wore down the grooves. I told the high school band director that I wanted to take up bass clarinet, but he steered me to clarinet as a learning instrument. At any rate I was a total failure.

For years I was so in awe of Dolphy that I didn't pay attention to Clifford Jordan, but he was great too. I've grown to really appreciate his sound in recent years. I much prefer him to Johnny Griffin among the Chicago tenors of that generation. When Mingus hired Bobby Jones it was partly because his tone was so close to Jordan's.

[Ron Thorne]

Pete, thanks for your recent heads up about the upcoming DVD covering the European tour with this sextet. I plan to purchase that disc, hopefully through DeepDiscountDVD.

I think you'll really dig this release.

Clifford Jordan also shines on this date. In fact, everyone does, actually. It's a wonderful "discovery".

[chuckyd4]

Just picked this one up. So far, so good, though I'm only on "Sophisticated Lady." (Great bass work by Mingus on that one, though.) Can't wait until the whole band kicks in on "Fables," which is up next.

[guy]

Originally Posted by Pete C

For years I was so in awe of Dolphy that I didn't pay attention to Clifford Jordan, but he was great too. I've grown to really appreciate his sound in recent years.

IMHO Clifford Jordan's solo on the Town Hall "Meditations" is one of his best. It's fan-frickin-tastic.

Guy

[Ron Thorne]

Originally Posted by guy

IMHO Clifford Jordan's solo on the Town Hall "Meditations" is one of his best. It's fan-frickin-tastic.

Guy

Guy, what recording are you referencing?

The Town Hall disc (April 4, 1964) in our collection has two tracks:

1. So Long Eric
2. Praying With Eric

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Ron Thorne

Guy, what recording are you referencing?

The Town Hall disc (April 4, 1964) in our collection has two tracks:

1. So Long Eric
2. Praying With Eric

Praying with Eric is Meditations.