Galaxy Playlist for April 24, 2006

Composer's name is listed where notable (i.e. Classical Performance, Jazz Performance).

For more information on any of the rock, pop and Jazz music featured on this program, I frequently utilize AllMusic , an excellent free database holding a huge plethora of information about music and the artists that make it.

Composer	Performer	Title	Genre	Label	Notes
Charles Mingus	Mingus, -w- Ted Curson, Eric Dolphy, Booker Ervin, Dannie Richmond, Bud Powel in I Remember April	What Love	Jazz, Post-Bop, Avant Guarde, Third-Stream	Atlantic Jazz, 1960	Recorded live at Antibes Jazz Festival, Juan-les-Pins, France, 1960. Bud Powell was announced before the start of What Love, but did not play; he does play, and is featured, on I Remember April. What Love features a notable dialog between Dolphy's bass clarinet and Mingus' bass (and voice).
I Remember April
Mingus, -w- Shafi Hadi, Jimmy Knepper, Wade Legge, Dannie Richmond, Jean Shepherd	The Clown	Atlantic Jazz, 1957	Features spoken, improvised narration by Jean Shepherd, over great 50's era post-bop with some notable pre-avant guarde flourishes.
(the notes do not provide a list of players, partially due to contractual issues; Mingus is leading a large jazz orchestra, to include multiple string basses, french horns, and other instruments not normally used in jazz	The Chill of Death	Columbia, 1972	An early composition written in 1939, features Mingus reading poetry over a striking musical bed that can easily be qualified as being "third-stream" jazz, jazz that has a significant classical influence (i.e. Gunther Schiller)
Mingus, -w- Eddie Preston, Britt Woodman, Don Butterfield, Jerome Richardson, Dick Hafer, Booker Ervin, Eric Dolphy, Jaki Byard, Walter Perkins	Freedom	Impulse, 1963	Not originally released on the Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus album, this piece features both the strong sense of the blues and the strong activist tendencies that flavored much of Mingus' music.
(see Chill of Death); James Moody is the featured soloist	Hobo Ho	Columbia, 1972	Another example of Mingus' use of the blues as a starting point. Here we run from deep blues to deep atonalities and polytonalities, as soloists solo together, creating a vibrant mishmash of passionate music, echoing the very soul of the composer.
Mingus, -w- John Handy III, Booker Ervin and Shadi Hadi, Horace Parlan, Willie Dennis, Jimmy Knepper, Dannie Richmond	Better Git Hit In Your Soul	Columbia, 1959	More blues, this time with a strong sense of the gospel influence that pervaded his music. Pepper Adams (bari sax) is featured on E's Flat, Ah's Flat Too.
Mingus, -w- Jackie McLean, John Handy, Booker Ervin, Pepper Adams, Jimmy Knepper, Willie Dennis, Mal Waldron, Dannie Richmond	E's Flat, Ah's Flat Too	Atlantic Jazz, 1959
Mingus, -w- Ted Curson, Eric Dolphy, Booker Ervin, Dannie Richmond,	Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting		Atlantic Jazz, 1960	Two more songs from this Antibes recording. The Prayer Meeting might be considered a sort of musical prayer meeting, with the various horns stepping up to "testify" before the Lord (at times with much vocal encouragement from other members of the congregation). An excellent example of the great sympathetic interplay that Mingus got from his regular sidemen, with a notable performance from Dolphy here (of course, Dolphy was hardly ever unnotable). At the close of the song, we hear Mingus banging chords on piano. Prayer for Passive Resistance, meanwhile, is a bit more basic, a return to the blues form that we've heard on multiple occasions this evening, and another example of Mingus' passionate activism.
Prayer for Passive Resistance
Mingus, -w- Richard Williams, Jimmy Kn epper, John Handy, Booker Ervin, Benny Golson, Jerome Richardson, Teddy Charles, Roland Hanna, Dannie Richmond	Far Wells, Mill Valley	Columbia, 1960	While we were unfortunately limited from hearing some of Mingus' other great recordings (I do not have several of his truly great ones), it would behoove me to at least include something from Mingus Dynasty, and this is an excellent example of Mingus in his Third Stream compositional mode, showing some of the beautifully creative writing that made Mingus one of the most interesting composers in jazz, and maybe in music in general, disregarding genre.

Composer

Performer

Title

Genre

Label

Notes

Charles Mingus

Mingus, -w- Ted Curson, Eric Dolphy, Booker Ervin, Dannie Richmond, Bud Powel in I Remember April

What Love

Jazz, Post-Bop, Avant Guarde, Third-Stream

Atlantic Jazz, 1960

Recorded live at Antibes Jazz Festival, Juan-les-Pins, France, 1960. Bud Powell was announced before the start of What Love, but did not play; he does play, and is featured, on I Remember April. What Love features a notable dialog between Dolphy's bass clarinet and Mingus' bass (and voice).

I Remember April

Mingus, -w- Shafi Hadi, Jimmy Knepper, Wade Legge, Dannie Richmond, Jean Shepherd

The Clown

Atlantic Jazz, 1957

Features spoken, improvised narration by Jean Shepherd, over great 50's era post-bop with some notable pre-avant guarde flourishes.

(the notes do not provide a list of players, partially due to contractual issues; Mingus is leading a large jazz orchestra, to include multiple string basses, french horns, and other instruments not normally used in jazz

The Chill of Death

Columbia, 1972

An early composition written in 1939, features Mingus reading poetry over a striking musical bed that can easily be qualified as being "third-stream" jazz, jazz that has a significant classical influence (i.e. Gunther Schiller)

Mingus, -w- Eddie Preston, Britt Woodman, Don Butterfield, Jerome Richardson, Dick Hafer, Booker Ervin, Eric Dolphy, Jaki Byard, Walter Perkins

Freedom

Impulse, 1963

Not originally released on the Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus album, this piece features both the strong sense of the blues and the strong activist tendencies that flavored much of Mingus' music.

(see Chill of Death); James Moody is the featured soloist

Hobo Ho

Columbia, 1972

Another example of Mingus' use of the blues as a starting point. Here we run from deep blues to deep atonalities and polytonalities, as soloists solo together, creating a vibrant mishmash of passionate music, echoing the very soul of the composer.

Mingus, -w- John Handy III, Booker Ervin and Shadi Hadi, Horace Parlan, Willie Dennis, Jimmy Knepper, Dannie Richmond

Better Git Hit In Your Soul

Columbia, 1959

More blues, this time with a strong sense of the gospel influence that pervaded his music. Pepper Adams (bari sax) is featured on E's Flat, Ah's Flat Too.

Mingus, -w- Jackie McLean, John Handy, Booker Ervin, Pepper Adams, Jimmy Knepper, Willie Dennis, Mal Waldron, Dannie Richmond

E's Flat, Ah's Flat Too

Atlantic Jazz, 1959

Mingus, -w- Ted Curson, Eric Dolphy, Booker Ervin, Dannie Richmond,

Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting

Atlantic Jazz, 1960

Two more songs from this Antibes recording. The Prayer Meeting might be considered a sort of musical prayer meeting, with the various horns stepping up to "testify" before the Lord (at times with much vocal encouragement from other members of the congregation). An excellent example of the great sympathetic interplay that Mingus got from his regular sidemen, with a notable performance from Dolphy here (of course, Dolphy was hardly ever unnotable). At the close of the song, we hear Mingus banging chords on piano. Prayer for Passive Resistance, meanwhile, is a bit more basic, a return to the blues form that we've heard on multiple occasions this evening, and another example of Mingus' passionate activism.

Prayer for Passive Resistance

Mingus, -w- Richard Williams, Jimmy Kn epper, John Handy, Booker Ervin, Benny Golson, Jerome Richardson, Teddy Charles, Roland Hanna, Dannie Richmond

Far Wells, Mill Valley

Columbia, 1960

While we were unfortunately limited from hearing some of Mingus' other great recordings (I do not have several of his truly great ones), it would behoove me to at least include something from Mingus Dynasty, and this is an excellent example of Mingus in his Third Stream compositional mode, showing some of the beautifully creative writing that made Mingus one of the most interesting composers in jazz, and maybe in music in general, disregarding genre.

The Galaxy Playlist

April 24, 2006

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