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...record companies embraced the electronically enhanced jazz-pop amalgam known as fusion. Now a whole generation of prodigiously talented young musicians is going back to the roots, using acoustic instruments, playing recognizable tunes and studying the styles of earlier jazzmen, from King Oliver and Louis Armstrong to Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. Moreover, with major record labels rushing to sign them up, many of these so-called neotraditionalists are starting to enjoy commercial success, and some are on the road to real wealth...
Schuller calls Epitaph "a musical summary of one of the great jazz composers of the century, from the sweet and gentle Mingus to the angry Mingus." In style, Epitaph is characteristic of his orchestral compositions: echoes of gospel songs and his acknowledged master, Duke Ellington; abrupt rhythmic shifts; fleeting lyrical passages (often scored for piano or vibes) that unexpectedly explode into dissonant choruses of yawps and growls; high- register solos underscored by ostinato refrains on basses and trombones. Some of the sections allow for considerable improvisation: a full-throttle version of Better Get It in Your Soul -- one of Mingus...
CHARLES MINGUS: EPITAPH (Columbia). Jazz, in today's approved jargon, is called Afro-American classical music. No work has better claim to that description than Epitaph, a monumental composition (more than two hours long) by the protean jazz bassist who died in 1979. Shifting from blues to Ellington-like mood pieces to cacophonous yawps, the work is scored for a 30- piece band. It was performed once in Mingus' lifetime, haphazardly. This live recording comes from Epitaph's real world premiere, at New York City's Lincoln Center last June. Composer and jazz historian Gunther Schuller led an all-star...
...oppression. He sees things white observers often miss: Jesse Jackson is most convincing when he demands "the best of those who live in the worst conditions"; Louis Farrakhan's anti-Semitism appeals to many blacks because they envy the clout of Jews; such artists as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and writer Albert Murray have blended the traditions of Africans, Europeans, Native Americans and Asians into "the rich mulatto textures of American culture." When he sticks to the issues, Crouch is a provocative social analyst. But when he sets out to make his enemies walk the plank, it is Crouch...
...anymore. Mood Indigo has been on the Billboard jazz chart for the past 15 weeks and is currently perched at No. 5. Lyrical in mood, it recalls John Coltrane's great 1962 Ballads album as it rephrases hardy perennials by Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington and Coltrane (with an assist on two tracks from trumpeter Wynton Marsalis). Although Morgan was tutored in the dizzying strictures of bebop by Charlie Parker, his recent playing has become less slashing, his tone more glowing, his lines more feelingly supple. The new sound is certainly enticing, and has helped Morgan get some of the attention...