Cornell 1964
| Cornell 1964 | ||||
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| Live album by Charles Mingus | ||||
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| Label (s) | Blue Note Records | |||
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2 CDs |
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Title (number) |
9 |
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running time |
134: 25 (2 CD) |
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Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy: Cornell 1964 - the full title of the album - is a jazz album by Charles Mingus . It was recorded live in the Great Hall of Cornell University in Itaca , New York on March 18, 1964 , and released by Blue Note Records in 2007 .
Prehistory of the Cornell Concert
The year 1964 is considered by many critics to be one of the high points in the musical biography of the bassist, composer and band leader, particularly through his European tour in April of that year, documented on a number of sound carriers such as The Great Concert, Paris 1964 . Mingus formed his sextet in New York City at the beginning of the year after he had recorded his “opus magnum” The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady with an extended ensemble the year before . After several line-up changes, in which Mingus had also worked for a short time on a trial basis with Eddie Preston , Garnett Brown , Joe Albany , Booker Ervin and Pepper Adams , he only finally formed his new sextet during a two-month engagement at the New York club Five Spot . In the run-up to the upcoming European tour, Charles Mingus' sextet, which eventually included Johnny Coles (trumpet), Eric Dolphy (alto saxophone, flute, bass clarinet), Clifford Jordan (tenor saxophone), Jaki Byard (piano) and Dannie Richmond (drums) Heard , appearances in the United States, initially immediately after the Five Spot engagement the concert in the auditorium of Cornell University on March 18, 1964.
The Cornell Concert, March 1964
The repertoire of the Mingus band at the Cornell performance included Charles Mingus' extensive compositions , introduced as a soloist by "ATFW You" by pianist Jaki Byard, in addition to the two Duke Ellington standards " Sophisticated Lady " and " Take the" A "Train " " Meditations " and " Fables of Faubus ", "So Long Eric" and " Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk ".
Mingus starts the concert with two “evocations of the jazz past”, more or less solo pieces, initially Jaki Byard “encyclopedic ride” through music history, with quotes from bebop , ragtime , boogie-woogie , classical music and more, a “ combined tribute to Art Tatum and Fats Waller ”.
Then Charles Mingus plays his four-minute game on Ellington's “Sophisticated Lady”, occasionally “whispered piano chords” by Jaki Byard can be heard. The critic Werner Stiefele noted: "Mingus transfers the melody to his instrument so ingeniously that in shimmering moments he even finds a translation for the original growl sounds of the wind instruments."
After this introduction a half-hour version of “Fables of Faubus” follows; the expanded form of this composition from 1959 begins with an introduction by Dolphy and Jordan; Gary Giddins described this as "a breath of fresh air," and the following solos and cadences are peppered with musical quotes, such as Jaki Byard's allusions to the "Yankee Doodle," "Lift Every Voice and Sing," and Chopin's funeral march, and Mingus quote those Scale of the Harold Arlen classic “Blues in the Night” to the “ Peer Gynt Suite ”, Jerome Kern's “Pick Yourself Up” and “ Ol 'Man River ” and finally Gershwin's “It Ain't Necessarily So”. These solo sequences would give the politically motivated opus a darkly comical effect.
Mingus initially developed his composition "Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk" on his solo piano album Mingus Playes Piano ( Impulse!, 1963); eventually he worked out the final form with his musicians in the Five Spot .
"Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk" is headed here by Johnny Coles, Coles plays his instrument stuffed; his trumpet is contrastingly surrounded by Jordan's warm tenor and Dolphy's croaking bass clarinet. According to Gary Giddins, Mingus shows his approval in the further course of the piece with the passage from Harry Warren's "I'll String Along with You" woven into his own solo . Then the Ensemble Mingus´ only sextet version of Billy Strayhorn's “Take the A Train” plays, a “lively musical riot”; Mingus and Danny Richmond showed new directions for swing with their solos, Jaki Byrd blends stride passages into his solo.
The second CD of the concert recording begins with the half-hour version of "Meditations". One of the highlights of the concert is Eric Dolphy's "telepathic interplay" with Mingus when they play a duet in the opening sequence of "Meditations". In the opinion of the critic Greg Campshire it is - together with “Fables of Faubus” the central track of the album, “The master on bass plays a plaintive bowed bass that intertwines with Dolphys melancholy flute playing. In this way they create a single, compelling voice, which is only accompanied by the rich, repetitive wind instruments Jonny Coles' and Clifford Jordans. ”The compositions“ Meditations ”and“ Fables of Faubus ”“ received an epic, half-hour treatment that was full of changed moods and tempos ”.
"Meditations" is characterized right from the start by a "serious, contemplative-spiritual community" - by Mingus' archery, Byard's "learned" piano and Dolphys flute. After more than seven minutes, the basic meditative mood is suddenly changed by Dolphy's themed playing on the bass clarinet, which heralds the ensemble playing; a longer solo by Dolphys follows, until ensemble passages introduce further solos. After a furious collective improvisation , Byard leads back to the meditative mood of the beginning and ends the piece.
Werner Stiefele noted that in the first seven minutes of “Meditations” and a later passage the band leader abolished the usual division of labor in a band, “by using his double bass as a full-fledged melodic instrument, while the wind players withdrew to almost minimalistic repetitive figures”.
This is followed by the quarter-hour composition "So Long Eric", dedicated to Eric Dolphy, which became a "lament" after Dolphy's death in 1964; here, however, Mingus' Blues was meant to "celebrate the musician". After Mingus 'introductory solo and the theme presentation by the ensemble, Johnny Coles has the first solo, framed by the rhythm section's blues-emphasized play, especially by the powerful bass and shouts of Mingus'; Even with Jaki Byrd's subsequent solo, full of quotations, his calls can be heard again and again. The jump-blues mood continues with Clifford Jordan's solo until the themed play finally changes direction.
“The introduction to“ So Long Eric ”is also an excellent bass feature,” wrote Werner Stiefele, “but here Mingus plays the accompanying role in the tutti. The ensemble passages are - also a specialty of Mingus - arranged in a multifaceted way, and each of the soloists has room for detailed solos. "
The rarity of this concert was the encore "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling", a rare jazz version of a famous folk piece, which is otherwise played in honor of St. Patrick's Day , and finally Mingus' only interpretation of the Fats Waller classic " Jitterbug Waltz ”every ¾. Eric Dolphy excels here with his unique flute playing. he plays a jazz flute like no one else here . At the end of the album, Chris Slavecki said that Dolphy's “dancing flute is the perfect instrument to lead to the finale of this evening, Fats Waller's funny and lively 'Jitterbug Waltz'.” Werner Stiefele sums up, “the humorous version” of the “Jitterbug Waltz” is "a fun fusion of old and new."
Rating of the album
Even if this Mingus sextet was well documented by further recordings from 1964, Cornell 1964 was, in the opinion of critic Greg Camphire, "a unique performance that was unparalleled in the extensive discography of the band leader"; Seen in this way, Cornell was not just any re-release in 1964 , "but, to put it in confidence, a jazz classic and monumental portrait of an all-star formation at the height of their powers". The six musicians often sounded as if there were more; Mingus shows a sense of detailed orchestration that reveals the strong Ellington influence. The recording also impressed with the live atmosphere, in which Mingus audibly cheered on his musicians and also delighted the audience.
In his review of the album, the critic Mark F. Turner emphasizes the meeting of the two "giants" Mingus and Dolphy as well as the high quality of the other Mingus musicians Jaki Byard, Johnny Coles, Clifford Jordan and Dannie Richmond. The recording not only offers versions of his famous titles such as the Fables of Faubus , but also reflects the pleasure that the musicians had in their program; it was a "stress-free atmosphere" - in contrast to some other Mingus engagements - and the musicians clearly enjoyed their music and the response from the audience. Dolphy played a jazz flute like nobody else in the final “Jitterbug Waltz” . There are "so many brilliant moments on this rediscovered historical document". The shadow of these musicians is "still recognizable today" and this concert is "the testament of their greatness that would hopefully last for years".
The critic Samuel Chell highlights the impressive solo Clifford Jordan's solo in “Fables of Faubus”, and Johnny Coles is here “the elven-enigmatic loner”, who comes into its own here better than in the group's previously published European recordings, such as The Great Concert, Paris 1964 ; he had enough opportunity here to remind them that he was Gil Evans ' preferred trumpeter after Miles Davis. Samuel Chell sees Mingus at Cornell in 1964 on the same level as the recording of the Mingus concert in Paris from the summer. Even if it speaks for Cornell that Coles was present, who fell ill during the tour in the summer, the later Paris guest performance of the five members of the Mingus "Sextet" made up for the loss of Coles' trumpet part. Nevertheless, the formation's play on Cornell is "fiery" - which is particularly true of Clifford Jordan's solo in "Fables of Faubus"; in addition, the exchange between Dolphy and Jordan is "more explosive and exciting", especially in the version of "So Long, Eric". A noticeable difference to the Paris concert is also the more open accessibility of Mingus to the audience. In Chell's opinion, the very satisfactory music gives a more rounded picture of the excellent Mingus ensemble on the legendary 1964 tour, and while Eric Dolphy was understandably always the magnet of this band, each of the soloists was to be heard with great advantage at this early American concert. In summary, the author states that the Cornell recording is something like "the indispensable preparation for the big event" (the upcoming tour).
For Greg Camphire, however, Coles' presence was like a special revelation in view of his later absence on the European tour; He therefore mentions his contribution in the encore “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling”, in which he surprised with an “immensely full tone” with harmonious inventions.
According to Gary Giddins, the Cornell performance was a “festival of debuts”: it was, so to speak, after the development in Five Spot “the first performance of the program” that the Mingus sextet in the Town Hall in April '64 and later in the summer should play in Holland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France and Germany. Nevertheless, the Cornell recording is not a simple document of the transition , but offers versions of the titles that are as good or even better than the versions recorded in Europe over the course of the year.
For Werner Stiefele, the four-minute solo Mingus' on Sophisticated Lady - it was also part of the concert repertoire on the following European tour - is "one of the highlights of bass history."
Thom Jurek emphasizes in Allmusic, who awarded the album 4½ stars, that until this recording was released, recordings from the Town Hall three weeks later were the standard for this band; now it was Cornell 1964 that "took his place in the annals of the canon".
The critic Chris Slavecki called the rediscovered concert recording with one of Mingus' favorite bands "belligerent, sprawling and historical"; the concert moves “so surely through this program of Mingus originals and numbers by Strayhorn, Ellington and Waller that one is amazed to experience Cornell in 1964 as the sound of Mingus' own history of American jazz, or even more so, the sound of how he writes his place in this story ”.
The titles
Blue Note Records CDP 0946 3 92210-2-8
- CD1
- Opening - 0:17
- ATFW You (Jaki Byard) - 4:26
- Sophisticated Lady (Ellington, Mills, Parish) - 3:23
- Fables of Faubus - 29:42
- Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk - 15:05
- Take the “A” Train (Strayhorn) - 17:26
- CD2
- Meditations - 31:23
- So Long Eric - 15:33
- When Irish Eyes Are Smiling (trad) 6:07
- Jitterbug Waltz (Waller) 9:59
(All other compositions are by Charles Mimgus)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Brian Priestley : Mingus: A Critical Biography. Quartet Books, London 1982, ISBN 0-7043-2275-7 .
- ^ A b c d Gary Giddins: Liner Notes by Cornell 1954 , 2007
- ↑ a b c d e Greg Campshire: Review of the album in All About Jazz (English)
- ↑ a b c d e f Mark F. Turner: Review of the album in All About Jazz 2007 (English)
- ↑ a b c d e f Chris Slavecki: Review of the album in All About Jazz 2007 (English)
- ↑ a b c d e f Werner Stiefele: Review of the album in Rondo 9/2007
- ↑ Samuel Chell: Review of the album in All About Jazz (English)
- ↑ Thom Jurek: Review in Allmusic