Jazz in Detroit / Strata Concert Gallery / 46 Selden

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Jazz in Detroit / Strata Concert Gallery / 46 Selden
Live album by Charles Mingus

Publication
(s)

2018

Format (s)

5 LP, 5 CD

Genre (s)

jazz

Title (number)

10/12

occupation

Studio (s)

Strata Concert Gallery, Detroit

Jazz in Detroit / Strata Concert Gallery / 46 Selden (Subtitle: Presented by Allied Artists Association of America Inc. with the Support of Michigan Council for the Arts ) is a live album by Charles Mingus , which was released on March 12, 1973 in the Detroit Strata Concert Gallery and will be released on the British label BBE Records in November 2018.

background

The recordings are to be classified between the creation of the regular Mingus albums Charles Mingus and Friends in Concert (February 1972) and Mingus Moves (October 1973); they were recorded during a one-week engagement (February 13-18, 1973) with the Mingus Quintet in Detroit's Strata Concert Gallery (46 Selden Street), a venue for the short-lived jazz label Strata Records . With Charles Mingus (double bass), Don Pullen played the piano, John Stubblefield played the alto and tenor saxophone, as well as the two Detroit musicians Joe Gardner (trumpet) and Roy Brooks (drums). Brooks and Gardner had already performed with Mingus in the Boston Jazz Workshop in 1971 ; also since 1971 saxophonist Stubblefield had worked with Mingus in New York, but without recording with him. Shortly after his engagement in Detroit, Stubblefield left the Mingus band to play in the Mingus Dynasty and the Mingus Big Band after his death .

The sessions of the Mingus band were recorded by the producer and radio presenter Robert "Bud" Spangler for the non-profit broadcaster WDET-FM. The first publication was made possible by the New York disc jockey and record collector Amir Abdullah and Hermione Brooks, the widow of the involved Roy Brooks, who died in 2005. Hermione Brooks and her friend Barbara Cox, who was the founder and director of Strata with her husband Kenny Cox , gave the tapes to the Brooklyn-based record label 180 Proof Records, which it released in cooperation with the British Barely Breaking Even label. The sound quality is acceptable; In addition to the three hours of music by the Mingus band, the material includes the interview that WDET presenter Bud Spangler held with Roy Brooks during the break. The two alternate takes may have come from rehearsals before the evening's performance.

Music of the album

Titles played included “Pithecanthropus Erectus”, title track from the 1956 album of the same name , “ Peggy's Blue Skylight ” (from the 1961 album Oh Yeah ), as well as more recent compositions such as “The Man Who Never Sleeps”, “ Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk ”(from the album Changes One / Two , which was released in 1975),“ Noddin 'Ya Head Blues ”and the waltz“ Dizzy Profile ”, which Mingus never recorded in the studio.

reception

Chris May wrote in All About Jazz that Jazz in Detroit was (despite all reservations) an important publication and a welcome addition to the archives, but that this was not associated with a paradigm shift. The line-up of this Mingus band is not the first choice; there were also no studio recordings of this formation. Outstanding is the performance of the drummer Roy Brooks, as well as the pianist Don Pullen, but his otherwise avant-garde inclinations would be muted here in a bluesy playing posture. The performances of the two winds would be less remarkable; Trumpeter Joe Gardner is a typical but not outstanding hard bop player. Tenor saxophonist John Stubblefield could not keep up with the saxophonists Mingus otherwise employed. The most important tracks on the album include the ballad "Dizzy Profile" and "Noddin 'Ya Head Blues", which appeared in a differently arranged version on Three or Four Shades of Blues (Atlantic, 1977). Soloists in both titles are Gardner, Stubblefield and Pullen; Mingus and Brooks in "Noddin '". In summary, the author thinks that Mingus' most satisfactory albums were those with large ensembles; the exception would be Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (Candid, 1960), in a quartet with Eric Dolphy , Ted Curson and Dannie Richmond . But the band's 1973 line-up in Detroit is not in the same league.

For Marc Myers ( Jazzwax ) the release of Mingus' Jazz in Detroit is a milestone that fills a large gap in his discography; that would give a clear picture of how great this Mingus quintet was. The music is rich and wonderful; many of the tracks played are mesmerizing. Saxophonist Stubblefield would offer an incredible performance; the same goes for pianist Don Pullen and trumpeter Joe Gardner. Drummer Roy Brooks is the driving force, as is, of course, Mingus himself.

In 2018 the album was nominated for the Reader's Poll by JazzTimes , which Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album by John Coltrane won. In the National Public Radio's Jazz Critics Poll , the album came fifth in the Rare Avis category .

Track list

LP edition

A1 - Pithecanthropus Erectus
B1 - Pithecanthropus Erectus (continued)
C1 - The Man Who Never Sleeps
D1 - Peggy's Blue Skylight
E1 - Introduction by Bud Spangler / Celia

F1 - Celia (continued)
G1 - C Jam Blues
H1 - C Jam Blues (continued)
I1 - Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk
J1 - Dizzy Profile

CD edition

CD 1
  1. Pithecanthropus Erectus 25:06
  2. The Man Who Never Sleeps (Mingus) 9:24
  3. Peggy's Blue Skylight (Mingus) 18:45
CD 2
  1. Introduction by Bud Spangler
  2. Celia (Mingus) 23:06
  3. Bud Spangler Interview with Roy Brookes
CD 3
  1. Jam Blues (Ellington) 5:51
  2. Orange Was the Color Of Her Dress, Then Silk Blue (Mingus) 20:36
  3. Dizzy Profile 27:36
CD 4
  1. Noddin 'Ya Head Blues 26:01
  2. Celia (Alternate Take) 24:17
CD 5
  1. Dizzy Profile (Alternate Take) 12:01
  2. Bud Spangler announcement

Web links

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Not to be confused with the New York City-based record label Strata-East Records , which was independent of who there was stylistic overlap.
  2. ↑ Tom Lord : Jazz Discography (online)
  3. ^ "Lost" 1973 Live Recording Set for Releases in JazzTimes, September 5th, 2018
  4. ^ Guillaume Schnee: "Jazz in Detroit" concert inédit de Charles Mingus. Fip, September 4, 2018, accessed September 4, 2018 (French).
  5. ↑ a b Chris May: Jazz in Detroit / Strata Concert Gallery / 46 Selden. All About Jazz, October 19, 2018, accessed October 19, 2018 .
  6. ^ Lost Charles Mingus live performance set for 5xLP vinyl release. Vinyl Factory, September 3, 2018, accessed September 3, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Marc Myers: Mingus In Detroit 1973. Jazzwax, November 7, 2018, accessed November 8, 2018 .
  8. ↑ 2018 Readers' Poll Results. JazzTimes, January 31, 2019, accessed February 10, 2019 .
  9. ^ Francis Davis: The 2018 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. National Public Radio, January 5, 2019, accessed March 24, 2019 .