Word: mingus
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Tribute to Bird-Trane-Mingus--Jaki Byard, Dick Johnson, Billy Pierce, Billy Thompson, Stanton Davis, Boots Maleson, and Semenyk McCord; Emmannuel Church, Boton...
...glossy promotional hype surrounding the Boston Globe Jazz Festival has all but ignored the Festival's "Tribute to Bird, Coltrane and Mingus" concert this evening at Emmanuel Church. The program features pianistbandleader Jaki Byard, who must by this time be accustomed to such oversights. Byard's regular Wednesday night gig at Michael's with his Apollo Stompers band is one of Boston's best-kept secrets, and that's a shame--the Stompers are a young, growing group whose enthusiasm, tempered by Byard's experience and humor, makes their performances stimulating and very entertaining...
...sound that Mingus gets out of his large and motley horn section is, for want of a much better word, "sloppy" in just the way he must have wanted it. He often spoke longingly of the days when the music was less complex and the musicians less literate, when he would teach each player his part by rote--he said that that music swung more than written music ever could. At its best, this band is free and sensitive; Mingus's rhythms and harmonies are felt as well as understood. At times, the sound is thick with instruments, over-reaching...
...individual performances on the album are all sound, but Mingus has in his day inspired better solos. The rock-associated Brecker brothers sound good here, but are probably over-represented. As on Three or Four Shades of Blues, maverick Coryell shows considerable understanding of Mingus's music in a number of excellent solos. Bassists Eddie Gomez and George Mraz wisely shy away from the spotlight, the obvious comparison with Mingus being overwhelming. Trumpeter Jack Walrath and saxophonist George Coleman each step forth briefly but decisively, while musicians of the caliber of Pepper Adams, Slide Hampton, Jimmy Knepper and Konitz take...
...Mingus's more alarming habits during the Jazz Workshop days was to stop his band in the middle of a performance in order to correct a mistake, rehearse a phrase, or simply berate his musicians. This probably accounted for much of his reputation as a fiery madman, but it made perfect sense to a man who saw jazz as a creative process rather than a finished product. Me Myself An Eye is hardly a climax to Mingus's long and valuable career, but, appropriately, it is ambitious enough to leave much work to be done. They say that Mingus died...