Jazzical moods
| Jazzical moods | ||||
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| Studio album by Charles Mingus | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Period , Bethlehem , London , OJC , Musica Jazz , Fresh Sound | |||
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Format (s) |
10 inch LP, 12 inch LP, CD |
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Title (number) |
8/6 |
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running time |
42:00 (12-inch PCB) |
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| occupation |
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Studio (s) |
New York City |
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Jazzical Moods is a jazz album by Charles Mingus that was recorded in New York City in December 1954. The recordings first appeared under the name of Charles Mingus and John LaPorta on the Period Records label under the title Jazzical Moods, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 in the form of two 25 cm long-playing records. Under the new title The Jazz Experiments of Charlie Mingus they were released - shortened by one title - as a 30 cm LP on Bethlehem in 1956 . Under the original title Jazzical Moods , the recordings were re-released as compact discs in 1995 by Original Jazz Classics (period OJCCD-1857-2) after they were (unauthorized) u. a. were sold under the titles Abstractions and Intrusions .
background
The recordings produced by Leonard Feather for the short-lived label Period were made around a month after Charles Mingus' recording of Jazz Composers Workshop for Savoy Records , on which John LaPorta and Teo Macero had also contributed. In addition, the trumpeter Thad Jones (who was listed under the pseudonym Oliver King for contractual reasons ), the cellist Jack Wiley and the drummer Clem DeRosa were added for the recordings in December 1955 . Mingus also played piano in three pieces; While he alternated bass and piano in “What Is This Thing Called Love?” and “Minor Intrusion”, in “Four Hands” bass and piano were overdubbed.
Music of the album
Of the five Mingus compositions played, three were based on standard material; Mingus derived “Spur of the Moment” from George Gershwin's “'S Wonderful” (1927), “Four Hands” from “ Idaho ” (1941). “Trilogy Logo” in turn is made up of Cole Porter's jazz standard What Is This Thing Called Love? , played by John LaPorta on the alto saxophone, over whose harmonies " Hot House " (played by Thad Jones) and " Woody'n You ", played by Teo Macero are placed. Mingus thus nested several topics into one another, which he would later perfect. Cellist Jack Wiley continues to play Mingus' bass lines while Mingus switches to the piano. "Thrice Upon a Time", played in a quartet, is based heavily on "Eulogy" from the previous album , with LaPorta alluding to the introduction of "Pithecanthropus Erectus" (on the album of the same name from 1956), as well as the ten-minute one by LaPorta arranged "Minor Intrusion", which also contains allusions to " Portrait " and is quoted in the later Mingus compositions "I of Hurricane Sue" (1971) and "Farwell Farewell" (1977).
Track list
- Charles Mingus / John LaPorta: Jazzical Moods, Vol. 1 (Period SPL 1107)
- A1 What Is This Thing Called Love?
- A2 Stormy Weather
- B1 minor intrusion
- B2 abstractions
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Charles Mingus / John LaPorta : Jazzical Moods, Vol. 2 (Period SPL 1111)
- A1 Thrice Upon a Theme
- A2 Four hands
- B1 The Spur Of The Moment
- B2 Echonitus
- Charles Mingus: The Jazz Experiments of Charlie Mingus (Bethlehem BCP 65)
- What Is This Thing Called Love? [ Trilogy Pogo ] ( Cole Porter ) - 8:14
- Minor Intrusion (Mingus) - 10:23
- Stormy Weather ( Harold Arlen , Ted Koehler ) - 3:21
- Four Hands (John LaPorta, Mingus) - 8:59
- Thrice Upon a Theme (Mingus) - 6:47
- The Spur of the Moment / Echonitus (LaPorta) - 8:43
reception
Nat Hentoff wrote after the appearance of the first 10-inch LP (period SPL-1107) on Downbeat : This is it
"Mingus' most wholly realized date so far as a leader-writer or, more accurately, it's the one that has most directly communicated to me in terms of emotions as well as concepts"
"The so far [first] recording as a conductor / composer, largely completely realized by Mingus, or - even more precisely - one that gives me direct pleasure, both in terms of the emotion and its concept."
The Saturday Review (1955) found the album Jazzical Moods Vol. 2 to be excellent . The magazine Metronome praised the "broad exercises in polytonal poetry" and highlighted the successful contributions by Thad Jones.
The author of the Billboard was more critical in July 1955:
“Charlie Mingus and John LaPorta have attempted before to adapt avantgarde longhair concepts and techniques to the jazz medium. In this sextet […] seem to get kicks out of this polytonal ride, but only sporadically do they seem actually to understand what is wanted of them. A lot of food for thought is here for the most modern of the modern. "
“Charlie Mingus and John LaPorta had previously tried to adapt artistic avant-garde concepts and techniques to the jazz medium. This sextet [...] seems to be falling out of this polytonal journey, they only understand sporadically what is expected of them. A lot of material has been devised here for the most modern of the modern. "
Heather Phares only gave the album three (out of five) stars in Allmusic and acknowledged that these period recordings from 1954 with Thad Jones and John LaPorta combined old and new forms of classical and jazz music to a new cool jazz sound. Titles such as Minor Intrusion and Thrice Upon a Time illustrated the synergy between Mingus and his musicians, and underpinned his compositional talents.
Also in Allmusic, Scott Yanow said that Mingus was in a transition phase at the time of this recording. He was nearing completion of his explorations of modern classical music, adding a strong emotional sensation to his compositions in the process. Mingus created music that was still rooted in bop, but at the same time used solo play and unusual sound combinations. The results are not essential, but often fascinating.
For the Mingus biographers Horst Weber and Gerd Filtgen, the album is “a strange recording”; here the truism applies , "that many cooks spoil the broth". At that time, Thad Jones was still too much under the influence of Dizzy Gillespies for the authors , while Teo Macero did not deny his preference for the soft Warne Marsh sound. Mingus and John LaPorta, on the other hand, were shaped by the ideas of Lennie Tristano . "Charles Mingus was still a long way from his dynamic Afro-American music , which would only crystallize more and more in the following years." a. Jack Wiley's cello used in “Stormy Weather” the arrangements “have a superimposed modernist character”
Even Brian Priestley showed in his Mimgus biography (1985) reservations about the album: "The lack of solidity, not to mention dynamism, in the rhythm section Combines with the saxophones' lack of expressivity (rather well shown up by Thad Jones's presence) to detract from material which is again interesting in itself. "
The critics Richard Cook and Brian Morton only gave the album 2½ stars (out of four) in The Penguin Guide to Jazz and, like Priestley, referred to the unusually boring game Teo Maceros, and the drummer Clem DeRosa would also lack any enthusiasm.
Editor's note
Unauthorized (and abridged) republication of the recordings appeared and a. also on Affinity (under the title Abstractions , AFF 135 (1985, LP), Affinity (CD AFF 750) as CD), on Drive Archive ( Intrusions , CD), Everest Records Archive of Folk & Jazz Music ( Charlie Mingus , LP FS -235), Fresh Sound Records ( Jazzical Moods , CD FSR-CD 62) and Koch Records ( Welcome to Jazz , CD 321 974 D1).
Individual evidence
- ^ Charles Mingus discography
- ↑ a b c Discographic information
- ↑ a b c Brian Priestley: Mingus. A Critical Biography. Quartet Books, London, Melbourne, New York City ISBN 0-7043-2275-7 , p. 59
- ↑ a b Horst Weber, Gerd Filtgen: Charles Mingus. His life, his music, his records. Oreos, Gauting-Buchendorf o. J., ISBN 3-923657-05-6 , p. 89 ff.
- ↑ discogs.com
- ↑ discogs.com
- ↑ Published as CD under Jazzical Moods ( Original Jazz Classics OJCCD 1857-2)
- ↑ discogs.com
- ↑ Saturday Review , Volume 38, Issue 4, p. 48.
- ^ Metronome , Volume 78, Cover 1961
- ^ Billboard , July 16, 1955.
- ^ Review of the album The Jazz Experiments of Charlie Mingus by Heather Phares at Allmusic . Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- ^ Review of Scott Yanow's Intrusions album on Allmusic . Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- ↑ Richard Cook, Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD 2nd edition. ISBN 0-14-051521-6 , p. 891
- ^ Gene Santoro: Myself When I am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus . 2000, p. 403.