Lineup Alto Saxophone/clarinet/flute/soprano: Craig Handy Tenor Saxophone/soprano: Brandon Wright Trombone: Andy Hunter Trumpet: Kenny Rampton Drums: Donald Edwards Bass: Ugonna Okegwo Bassoon: Janet Grice French Horn: Dan Shaud Guitar: David Gilmore Bass Clarinet: Doug Yates
TWO SETS 8:30 AND 10:30. $25/half-priced
for students both sets.
Tuesday, July 29, 8 pm Charles Mingus Orchestraat Washington Square Park in NYC. FREE! Lineup Craig Handy, alto saxophone/clarinet/flute/soprano sax Donny McCaslin, tenor saxophone/soprano sax Conrad Herwig, trombone Kenny Rampton, trumpet Donald Edwards, drums Boris Kozlov, bass Janet Grice, bassoon John Clark, French horn David Gilmore, guitar Doug Yates, bass clarinet
Also Tuesday, July 29 Mingus Dynasty will be playing at Iridium
(51st and B'way) in New York City TWO SETS 8:30 AND 10:30. $25/half-priced
for students both sets.
Tuesday,
July 15 Mingus
Dynasty at Iridium
(51st and B'way) in New York City Lineup Trumpet: Alex Sipiagan
Alto Saxophone: Craig Handy Tenor Saxophone: Brandon Wright Trombones: Andy Hunter
Drums: Adam Cruz
Bass: Brad Jones
Piano: David Kikoski TWO SETS 8:30 AND 10:30. $25/half-priced
for students both sets.
Tuesday, July 29, 8 pm Washington Square Park Charles Mingus Orchestra in NYC. FREE! Lineup Craig Handy, alto saxophone/clarinet/flute/soprano sax Donny McCaslin, tenor saxophone/soprano sax Conrad Herwig, trombone Kenny Rampton, trumpet Donald Edwards, drums Boris Kozlov, bass Janet Grice, bassoon Bobby Rouch, French horn David Gilmore, guitar Doug Yates, bass clarinet
JOHN HANDY QUINTET (Friday through Sunday)
From NYT:
"Best known for his work with Charles Mingus and Randy Weston in the late 1950s, John Handy is still a musician of flexible means; here he plays alto saxophone, clarinet, oboe and saxello. Craig Handy (not related) joins him on tenor saxophone; their top-flight rhythm section consists of Helen Sung on piano, Dwayne Burno on bass and Victor Lewis on drums. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11:30 set Friday and Saturday, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $30; $25 on Sunday."
Line-ups: Dynasty at Iridium 7/8/08 and Orchestra in Washington Square Park 7/29/08
Lineup Trumpet: Kenny Rampton
Alto Saxophone: Tia Fuller Tenor Saxophone: Wayne Escoffery Trombones: Jonathan Arons
Drums: Donald Edwards
Bass: Boris Kozlov
Piano: David Kikoski
TWO SETS 8:30 AND 10:30. $25/half-priced
for students both sets.
Tuesday, July 29, 8 pm Washington Square Park Charles Mingus Orchestra in NYC. FREE! Lineup Craig Handy, alto saxophone/clarinet/flute/soprano sax Donny McCaslin, tenor saxophone/soprano sax Conrad Herwig, trombone Kenny Rampton, trumpet Donald Edwards, drums Boris Kozlov, bass Janet Grice, bassoon Bobby Rouch, French horn David Gilmore, guitar Doug Yates, bass clarinet
Dynasty lineup 6/24/08, Cornell wins Jazz Journalists Assn Award
Lineup Trumpet: Alex Sipiagin
Alto Saxophone: Craig Handy
Tenor Saxophone: Abraham Burton Trombones: Ku-umba Frank Lacy
Drums: Donald Edwards
Bass: Boris Kozlov
Piano: Helen Sung
TWO SETS 8:30 AND 10:30. $25/half-priced
for students both sets.
Shadows. 1959. USA. Written and directed by John Cassavetes. Music by Shafi Hadi, Charles Mingus. With Ben Carruthers, Lelia Goldoni, Hugh Hurd. Cassavetes's vital, poignant, and humorous story of interracial romance and "passing"—often hailed as an American counterpart to Godard's Breathless (also 1959)—shattered cinematic conventions with its improvisational acting, jumpy editing, and handheld camerawork in the streets, coffee shops, late-night parties, and sculpture gardens of New York City. 87 min.
Friday, July 4, 2008, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Sunday, July 6, 2008, 2:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Mingus Big Band 6/10 and 6/17 at Iridium, 6/18 at Clifford Brown Festival
Mon, Jun. 9 2008
Mingus
music heats up in the summertime! Some old favorites rejoin the mix, and this
Tuesday we have both Strickland brothers in the band at the same time! Plus, for the next few weeks at Iridium we'll be preparing for the Clifford Brown festival, so we'll be featuring some material from Epitaph, and a Clifford Brown tune the band will perform in his honor.
PERFORMANCE DATES:
Tuesday,
June 10 Mingus
Big Band at
Iridium
(51st and B'way) in New York City
Lineup Trumpets: Alex Sipiagin, Earl Gardner, Kenny Rampton
Saxophone: Marcus Strickland, Mark Gross, Donny McCaslin, Abraham
Burton, Lauren Sevian
Trombones: Conrad Herwig , Clark Gayton, Earl McIntyre
Drums: E.J. Strickland
Bass: Boris Kozlov
Piano: Bruce Barth
TWO SETS 8:30 AND 10:30. $25/half-priced for students both sets.
Tuesday,
June 17
Mingus Big Band at
Iridium
(51st and B'way) in New York City
Lineup Trumpets: Jack Walrath, Earl Gardner, Tatum Greenblatt
Saxophone: Wayne Escoffery, Craig Handy, Donny McCaslin, Abraham Burton,
Lauren Sevian
Trombones: Clark Gayton, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Dave Taylor
Drums: Donald Edwards
Bass: Joe Martin
Piano: Orrin Evans
TWO
SETS 8:30 AND 10:30.
$25/half-priced for students both sets.
Wednesday,
June 18 The Mingus Big Band performs at the FREE Clifford
Brown Jazz Festival at Rodney Square
in Wilmington, DE.
Lineup
Trumpets: Greg Gisbert, Earl Gardner, Alex
Sipiagin
Saxophones: Wayne Escoffery, Craig Handy,
Seamus Blake, Abraham Burton, Jason Marshall
Trombones: Clark Gayton, Ku-umba Frank Lacy,
Earl McIntyre
Drums: Donald Edwards
Bass: Boris Kozlov
Piano: Orrin Evans
Tuesday, June 3 Mingus Dynasty at Iridium (51st and B'way) in New York City
Lineup Alto saxophone - Craig Handy, Tenor Saxophone - Donny McCaslin, Trumpet - Kenny Rampton, Trombone - Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Bass - Boris Kozlov, Piano - Helen Sung, Drums - Donald Edwards
TWO SETS 8:30 AND 10:30. $25/half-priced for students both sets.
Wednesday,
June 18 The Mingus Big Band performs at the FREE Clifford Brown Jazz Festival at Rodney Square in Wilmington, DE.
Lineup Trumpets: Greg Gisbert, Earl Gardner, Alex Sipiagin
Saxophones: Wayne Escoffery, Craig Handy, Seamus Blake, Abraham Burton, Jason Marshall
Trombones: Conrad Herwig, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Earl McIntyre
Drums: Donald Edwards
Bass: Boris Kozlov
Piano: Orrin Evans
52. Charles Mingus, “Mingus at the Bohemia (Debut, 1955).
53. Charles Mingus, “Mingus Ah Um” (Columbia, 1959).
54. Charles Mingus Sextet, “Cornell 1964” (Blue Note, 2007).
Dynasty line-up for Iridium and Barack Obama Fundraiser.
Tue, May. 20 2008
Mingus Dynasty Tonight, May 20 at Iridium in New York City Lineup:
Alto saxophone · Craig Handy, Tenor Saxophone · Seamus Blake, Trumpet ·
Kenny Rampton, Trombone · Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Bass · Boris Kozlov,
Piano · David Kikoski, Drums · Adam Cruz TWO SETS 8:30 AND 10:30.
Wednesday, May 21 The Mingus Dynasty was asked to perform at a swanky fundraiser for Barack Obama
at the brand new HUDSON TERRACE 621 W. 46th at 11th Ave. Event is from 7-11pm, Dynasty plays at 9pm (Also on the bill before the Dynasty, the Ahn Trio, and Hilary McRae.)Tickets are available here. Lineup: Wayne Escoffery, Tatum Greenblatt, Jaleel Shaw, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Boris Kozlov, Helen Sung, and E.J. Strickland.
Tuesday, May 27 at Iridium in New York City Lineup: Mark Gross, Wayne Escoffery, Kenny Rampton, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Boris Kozlov, David Kikoski, Donald Edwards. TWO SETS 8:30 AND 10:30.
Announcing First Annual Mingus High School Competition
Reissue of the Year
* Cornell 1964, Charles Mingus Sextet (Blue Note)
Large Ensemble of the Year (9+ pieces)
* Mingus Big Band
The Awards will be celebrated Wednesday, June 18, at a cocktail reception 3 to 6 pm at the Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St., NYC).
Finalists, honored for excellence in jazz and jazz journalism, will be voted upon by professional members of the JJA toward selection of a representative recipient (aka “winner").
TUES, APRIL 22 MINGUS BIRTHDAY As testament to to power of Mingus music to attract the greatest musicians playing today, two outstanding Mingus Big Bands are both celebrating Mingus birthday on April 22nd, coast to coast.
IN NEW YORK: April 22 Mingus Birthday Celebration at Iridium in New York City Lineup: Trumpets: Lew Soloff, Earl Gardner, Kenny Rampton Saxophone: Marcus Strickland, Jaleel Shaw, Vincent Herring, Scott Robinson, Ronnie Cuber Trombones: Conrad Herwig, Clark Gayton, Dave Taylor Drums: Gene Jackson Bass: Boris Kozlov Piano: George Colligan TWO SETS 8:30 AND 10:30. MAKE RESERVATIONS AT IRIDIUM 212-582-2121. Preceded by a performance by the Yale Jazz Ensemble at 6:30 pm, no cover. IN SF April 22-April 27 Mingus Big Band at Yoshi's in San Francisco and Oakland Lineup: Trumpet: Alex Sipiagin, Vitaly Golovnev, Greg Gisbert Saxophone: Craig Handy, Wayne Escoffery, Mark Gross, Abraham Burton, Jason Marshall Trombones: Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Andy Hunter, Earl McIntyre Drums: Donald Edwards Bass: Ugonna Okegwo Piano: Kenny Drew Jr.
Worldwide web and radio: WKCR will host its annual 24-hour Mingus RADIO broadcast
And Sirius
celebrates the birth of Charles Mingus with music curated by his widow
Sue Mingus. Every hour, throughout the day, listeners will hear a
Mingus tune and Sue Mingus will explain the significance of each one. Tuesday, April 22, starting at 6 am to 12 midnight ET.
A jazz festival will be held over two weekends in Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico in a joint effort to honor the late Charles Mingus. Mingus, who played and composed for most of the jazz greats, was born in Nogales, Ariz., and died in Mexico, and this is the second time the two communities, known collectively as Ambos Nogales, have worked together to hold a jazz festival in Mingus’s honor.
By Andrea Canter
Mingus Big Band Birthday Celebration, Coast to Coast on April 22nd
Every Tuesday night, one of the Mingus legacy bands takes over the bandstand at the Iridium Jazz Club in Manhattan to celebrate and promote the music of legendary bassist Charles Mingus. On April 22nd, the Mingus Big Band further honors the 86th birthday of a man of divergent, often controversial tastes and a singular mission to create music. The celebration will not be limited to the Iridium, however, as a second edition of the Mingus Big Band will perform at Yoshi’s in San Francisco as well on April 22nd, then move to across the Bay to Oakland, April 24-27. Additional Mingus celebrations will be broadcast on Radio WKCR and Sirius.
The Yale Jazz Ensemble, led by Music Director David M. Brandenburg, will open for the Mingus Big Band on Tuesday, April 22, 2008, Charles Mingus' birthday, at 6:30 pm at the Iridium Jazz Club (1650 Broadway at 51st Street).
The Ensemble will be joined by special guest Niko Higgins, saxophone. There is a $10 minimum with no cover charge. (There is an additional charge to stay for the Mingus Big Band.) Call (212) 582-2121 or visit iridiumjazzclub.com for more information.
Founded in 1991, the Mingus Big Band performs the music of legendary composer and bassist Charles Mingus. Under the artistic direction of Sue Mingus, the group tours widely in the United States and abroad, and has recorded nine albums, six of which have been nominated for GRAMMY Awards. Since 2004, the Mingus Big Band has performed every Tuesday night at the Iridium Jazz Club, which has been hailed by New York Magazine as “New York's Best Jazz Club".
Niko Higgins is a saxophonist and composer who lives in New York City where he leads the Niko Higgins Ensemble. His two albums, “Inbetween" (2003) and “From Eye to Ear" (2006), are released by Engine Studios.
The Yale Jazz Ensemble (YJE) is an eighteen-piece big band that performs a wide variety of music, from Yale's Benny Goodman archive to the newest and most progressive jazz compositions. The Ensemble has performed extensively in the United States and internationally at such venues as New York's Village Vanguard and London's Ronnie Scott's. The YJE has performed with or opened for The Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, the Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin Big Band, the World Saxophone Quartet, Jane Ira Bloom, Jimmy Owens, and Branford Marsalis.
Mingus Birthday events April 22, 2008
Tue, Apr. 8 2008
Two Mingus Big Bands play coast to cost.
Also,
WKCR hosts its annual 24-hour Mingus broadcast
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/wkcr/
Sirius celebrates Jazz Appreciation Month Mingus on Mingus Sirius celebrates the birth of Charles Mingus with music curated by his widow Sue Mingus. Every hour, throughout the day, listeners will hear a Mingus tune and Sue Mingus will explain the significance of each one. Tuesday, April 22, starting at 6 am to 12 midnight ET.
The New York Canon: Books From Norman Mailer to Rem Koolhaas, 26 works of lapidary New Yorkitude. By Sam Anderson
CHARLES MINGUS, BENEATH THE UNDERDOG, 1971
Charles Mingus was categorically uncategorizable: white, black, Asian; bassist, bandleader, composer; L.A., New York. He always insisted that his music was not jazz: It was Mingus music. This whacked-out half-fictional memoir (cf. his early experiences as a pimp) is not autobiography: It’s Mingus writing. It makes today’s fictioneering memoirists look like stenographers, and vacuum-seals the mid-century scene’s flavor more potently than mere fact ever could.
Trumpets: Alex Sipiagin, Tatum Greenblatt, Kenny Rampton
Saxophone: Wayne Escoffery, Steve Slagle, Mark Gross, Abraham Burton, Jason Marshall
Trombones: Conrad Herwig, Andy Hunter, Earl McIntyre
Drums: Gene Jackson
Bass: John Benitez
Piano: Orrin Evans
Friday, April 11, 2008, 2:00 - 3:45
Abstract:
"Mingus, Cassavetes, and the Politics of Improv"
“Jazz is orgasm, it is the music of orgasm, good orgasm and bad, and so it spoke across a nation… it spoke in no matter what laundered popular way of instantaneous existential states to which some whites could respond, it was indeed a communication of art because it said, ’I feel this, and now you do too.’” -- Norman Mailer, “The White Negro”
Norman Mailer’s remarks in his controversial 1957 essay speak to a collision and melding of the races in popular culture that we still witness today. Yet nowhere are Mailer’s themes embodied more fully than in John Cassavetes’ seminal independent film of the same year, Shadows, which featured an original score by Charles Mingus. This lecture examines the complex and explosive collaboration of Cassavetes and Mingus, two of the United States’ leading improvisational artists, at a pivotal moment in the history of independent cinema, jazz, and race relations.
Through an integration of film clips, texts, and still photographs, this presentation examines connections between the film’s loose narrative—of three mixed-race siblings living day-to-day in mid-50s New York bohemia--and the film’s revolutionary making, which in many ways inverted the plot. In Mingus’s score, which Cassavetes edited severely, one finds the truest expression of the film’s exploration of cultural identity. The score encapsulates Cassavetes’ and Mingus’s unique approaches to both improvisation and composition in their respective media, illuminating the oppositional nature of jazz to mainstream cultural production—and in turn, the underbelly of race relations in 1950s America.
Two sets at 8:30 and 10:30
at Iridium, 51st and Broadway.
Alto Saxophone
Mark Gross Tenor Saxophone
Donny McCaslin
Trumpet
Ryan Kisor Trombone
Andy Hunter
Bass
Boris Kozlov
Piano
George Colligan
Drums
Gene Jackson
Mingus and Monk
Show #2526
Explore the music Charles Mingus and Thelonious Monk, New Sounds-style. From Cuban percussionist Anga to the Massachusetts big band Either/Orchestra, from ex-Police guitarist Andy Summers to avant-garde composer George Crumb, the echoes of Monk and Mingus can be heard in a wide variety of new settings. We'll sample a few of the more unusual renditions of their classic tunes for this New Sounds program.
...Kozak said he didn't think there has been much of a focus on Mingus at the University.
"I've always admired his music," Kozak said. "It's a great opportunity for students to see what Mingus was about."
Kozak also said Mingus' music is important because students who want to be diverse jazz musicians need to be willing to understand and play all types of genres.
Kozak said he was proud of the Jazz Ensemble and, "They did a fantastic job. I'm super happy."
Some students who attended the concert said they enjoyed Mingus' music.
"The soloists were really fun and energetic. They make you excited to be there. You can tell they're having fun," said Meredith Reaves, a sophomore majoring in music education.
"I liked the selection of music. He's a great composer," said Margaret Dixon, a junior majoring in music performance.
...Simply put, the Mingus Big Band is a wonder and an anomaly. During a time when the few surviving big bands, like the Count Basie Orchestra and Woody Herman's Thundering Herd, tour the world like beautiful museum treasures, the Mingus Band has taken a musical legacy and transformed it into a creative force that generates a contemporary originality and vitality all its own. They are an important part of the current jazz scene and a constant reminder that jazz—big band jazz, at that—is not merely entertainment but a powerful art form and means of expression. Kudos to this band, to Sue Mingus, and to the extraordinary and tragic man whose spirit pervades it all—the late, great Charles Mingus.
...It takes a certain musician to play the demanding, eccentric works of Mingus, the late jazz bassist and composer. The Mingus Big Band, under the offstage direction of Sue Mingus, Charles' widow, has 14 such musicians, all world class, spanning several generations. It is perhaps the most racially integrated large ensemble operating today.
The group's weekly gig at Iridium in New York has given it an extraordinary solidity and sense of daring. Heavy snow couldn't keep the Philly audience away."
...the Mingus group, with its unstoppable rhythm section in bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Donald Edwards, set the evening's agenda.
Philly pianist Orrin Evans landed improvisatory bull's-eyes on the opening "Haitian Fight Song" and the closing "Pedal Point Blues." Alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, a Philly-born rising star, followed the formidable trombonist Conrad Herwig on "Ysabel's Table Dance," steering the piece into choppier waters.
"Children's Hour of Dream," a movement from the through-composed epic Epitaph, offered a window into Mingus' Third Stream writing, nearly classical in character.
Fri, Feb 22 Kimmel Center Philadelphia, PA
Arrive early for a pre-show artist chat with Sue Mingus at 6:30pm in the Merck Arts Education Center in Philadelphia. Sat, Feb 23 Elmhurst College Jazz Festival Elmhurst, IL
Trumpets: Lew Soloff, Kenny Rampton, Earl Gardner in PA, Alex Sipiagin in IL
Saxophones: Seamus Blake, Craig Handy, Jaleel Shaw, Vincent Herring, Jason Marshall Trombones: Andy Hunter, Conrad Herwig, Earl McIntyre Drums: Donald Edwards Bass: Boris Kozlov Piano: Orrin Evans
MINGUS BIG BAND performs
Sat, Mar 8 & Sun, Mar 9 Carnaval Miami in Coral Gables, FL
THE LYRIC CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF NEW YORK PRESENTS ITS TENTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF MUSIC: PROGRAMS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
FEBRUARY 27, 2008 7.30pm Kosciuscko Foundation
AUSTRIA AND BEYOND
David Taylor and Friends
"To the Distant Beloved"
A Journey from Schubert to Mingus
DAVID TAYLOR, Bass Trombone
ADAM HOLZMAN AND MICHAEL HOLOBER, Piano and Keyboards
BELLE EHRESMANN, Beat Box
On February 27, 2008, the Lyric Chamber Music Society of New York is pleased to present bass trombone virtuoso David Taylor and Friends in a special autobiographical concert entitled "To the Distant Beloved." The program, another of the Lyric's special CHAMZZ offerings, follows Taylor's musical explorations from Brooklyn to Vienna in a unique blend of jazz and classical repertoire.
The musical range of award-winning musician David Taylor extends from Bachian piety to Yiddish irony, from the idealism of Charles Ives to the hipster nihilism of Lenny Bruce. Inspired by his travels, and his exploration of jazz while at Juilliard, Taylor's music represents the spirit of improvisation and risk as opposed to conservatory notions of perfection.
The program will showcase the unique sounds of the relatively unknown bass trombone, which Taylor calls a "darkly sparkling instrument." Taylor has put together a suite of Schubert songs and French music by Ravel, Milhaud, and others. He has also developed a suite combining the music of the Vienna Secession, such as Berg and Schoenberg, with the jazz of Mingus and Carla Brey. Called "A Belle E Golden Hue," it celebrates his parents' devoted marriage of sixty years.
Taylor will be joined by Adam Holzman and Michael Holober on piano and keyboards, and Belle Ehresmann on beat box.
In this, as in all concerts at the Lyric, the musicians will speak about the history and background of the music during the evening. And also, as always, a light reception with the artists will follow the concert.
Reception with artists following concert
included in ticket price $45
Student Tickets $15
For tickets call Ticket Central:
(212) 279-4200
The Lyric Chamber Music Society of NY | 20 West 64th Street, Suite 27H | New York | NY | 10023
Jean Shepherd as master of ceremonies...
...Among the highlights of the evening will be a new composition by bass virtuoso Charlie Mingus called “Tia Juana Table Dance.” An authentic Flamenco dancer will accompany the number, which is based on Spanish Flamenco and jazz rhythms. Critic Barry Ulanov said of Mingus “Here is a man who thinks and feels with unending resources both of musical technique and imagination. In other words, an artist.”
Happy Birthday, John Handy!
"In Part 2 of our interview with alto saxophonist John Handy, he discusses a unique aspect of his sound, the origins of Charles Mingus’ Lester Young tribute “Goodbye Porkpie Hat,” the night Mingus made a scene listening to him play, the Mingus gig that resulted in the live album Jazz Portraits."
MINGUS BIG BAND AND ORCHESTRA CONDUCTED BY GUNTHER SCHULLER Damrosch Park, August 26th
Charles Mingus named "Musician of the Year"
and
Unearthed gem: Mingus at Cornell
Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy, Cornell 1964 (Blue Note). The clear winner is this live two-disc concert from long-lost tapes of Mingus' most boisterous band in its merriest mood. Regarded as a run-through of the (now-legendary) Town Hall concert a few weeks hence, and the European tour that followed, the session has its wayward moments, but it's jammed with zest and virtuosity. It starts with a head-spinning Jaki Byard piano solo on "Play MediaATFW You" (the initials standing for Art Tatum/Fats Waller), segues to Mingus plucking a soulful bass solo on "Sophisticated Lady," then moves into a string of original tunes—Mingus classics ("Play MediaFaubus Fables," "Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk," "So Long, Eric"), some of them played for the first time in public here. Horn solos by Play MediaEric Dolphy, Clifford Jordan, and Johnny Coles sizzle throughout. Drummer Danny Richmond plays near his peak, too. The discs aren't as revelatory as Monk and Coltrane's unearthed Carnegie Hall tapes of 1957, which topped this list (and many others) in 2005, but they'll do. (Better still, in some ways, is the "Jazz Icons" DVD, Charles Mingus: Live in '64, which lets you watch this same band, playing the same music, much of it a bit more tightly, a few weeks later in Europe.)
Charles Mingus Sextet With Eric Dolphy: "Cornell 1964" (Blue Note). Newly discovered, this is sheer gold -- historic performances by one of the very finest ensembles Mingus ever led. Best of all, there is extraordinary playing -- on alto saxophone, bass clarinet and flute -- from Dolphy, who died 12 weeks after the gig at age 36.
-DON HECKMAN
CHARLES MINGUS SEXTET WITH ERIC DOLPHY, CORNELL 1964 (Blue Note). This was, quite simply, one of the greatest aggregations of instrumental intensity ever to gather for one magical year. And this concert, which took place before the group's legendary (and, some might say, ill-fated) European tour, exhibits a high-spiritedness and keenness of interplay that exceeds even the recordings from that earlier tour.
Gene Seymour
CHARLES MINGUS SEXTET: ‘CORNELL 1964’ (Blue Note). A time capsule that reveals an irrepressible Mingus, on bass and vocals, propelling a short-lived band with both Eric Dolphy and Clifford Jordan on saxophones. Nothing, not even musty sound quality, can diminish the manic ebullience captured here.
NPR
Artist: Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy
Album: Cornell 1964
The recently unearthed concert by Charles Mingus’ group featuring Eric Dolphy is similarly relevatory – it’s a lusty blowing-session blast from an aggregate that ranks among Mingus’ best. Anchored by the unshakeable drummer Dannie Richmond, this sextet barrels through everything from early piano jazz to the stemwinding wheedles of the avant-garde to a seventeen-minute throwdown on Billy Strayhorn’s theme for the Ellington Orchestra, “Take the A Train.” Dolphy was at his most peak in 1964 – he recorded his classic Out To Lunch the same year – and this band, with Mingus interjecting constantly, keeps up with the saxophonist’s every crazy detour.
Charles Mingus Sextet, “Cornell 1964” (Blue Note)—It’s tough to go wrong when it comes to live recordings of the Mingus band, especially the incarnation that featured the resident geniuses Eric Dolphy and Jaki Byard, as well as the underappreciated Johnny Coles and Clifford Jordan. Still, this newly unearthed concert is notable for the ebullience of its often irascible leader.
-Steve Futterman
On this frequently brilliant and warmly recorded concert from March 18, 1964, Charles Mingus reasserts his intense genius. His bass playing, sprightly yet forceful, fast yet tempered, is a wonder to behold. Yet it’s almost impossible to take your attention off everyone else. Jaki Byard, perhaps the most underappreciated pianist in the history of jazz, plays with a flourishing grace that feels like dancing on water. Dannie Richmond’s drumming pays attention to ride, hi-hat, snare, tom, and kick with equal focus, and provides an equal level of striking and skittering. Then there’s Clifford Jordan and Johnny Coles, whose sax and tumpet, respectively, blow and bleat with a tendentious ease usually reserved for Coltrane and Miles. Never mind that they have to play next to Eric Dolphy, whose work on the bass clarinet and flute are mind-blowing. And never mind that nobody knew this concert was recorded, nor that anyone but the people there even knew it existed.
-Tal Rosenberg
"...And that's a part of what made the sextet so special-- it was a band full of distinctive instrumentalists who together made something on the borderline of magic. This set captures them at their finest, still caught in the adventure of learning, but sure enough to make every note count."
Newport Showcases The Many Sides Of Jazz
By CHUCK OBUCHOWSKI
"....One of the septet's most captivating soloists was young tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, a New Haven native and University of Hartford grad. The rising star also contributed significantly to a performance by The Mingus Orchestra, conducted by Gunther Schuller.
This unique salute focused on rarely performed Charles Mingus compositions with particularly complex structures. The Schuller's well-rehearsed 10-member orchestra not only brought these difficult charts to life but did so with such passion and conviction that this hour-long program became a musical highlight of Saturday's festival.
Bassoonist Michael Rabinowitz and hornist John Clark were among the outstanding soloists in the ensemble, and the unique instrumentation of the orchestra - which also included Jack Wilkins on guitar and Douglas Yates on bass clarinet - added to the beauty of these pieces.
Included in the orchestra's set were two pieces written by the bassist/bandleader while he was still a teenager, as well as "Todo Modo," Mingus' last extended composition, written in 1976 as a film score......"
★ CHARLES MINGUS ORCHESTRA (Tuesday) The must-have jazz release of the summer is “Cornell 1964” (Blue Note), a new recording of a short-lived Charles Mingus sextet that was discovered not long ago by the bassist’s widow, Sue Mingus. This fine repertory orchestra, another byproduct of Ms. Mingus’s vigilant stewardship, will perform at least one song from the recording in this free outdoor concert. At 8 p.m., Washington Square Park, southeast quadrant, Greenwich Village, (212) 252-3621, washingtonsquaremusicfestival.org; free. (Chinen)
Tijuana Moods Reissued
Tue, Jul. 10 2007
SONY's reissue of Tijuana Moods was reviewed in the July issue of Paste Magazine, page 95.
Larry Blumenfeld's review of "Charles Mingus Sextet With Eric Dolphy: Cornell 1964" appeared on the Reuters newswire today! CD release date is July 17, 2007.
Charles Mingus has been nominated as a finalist for a 2007 Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Award in the category of: Jazz Reissue Of The Year, Single CD for "Music Written for Monterey 1965 Not Heard: At UCLA 1965."
This CD was released on SueMingusMusic/Sunnyside Records in September of 2006 and made numerous critics "best of" lists.
Members of the JJA are currently voting on these nominees and others in 41 categories celebrating excellence in jazz music, production, presentation and print, broadcast and photographic journalism. For information on previous Jazz Awards, and to view complete list of this years nominees, go to
http://www.Jazzhouse.org website of the Jazz Journalists Association.
The 11th annual JJA Awards winners will be announced the last week of June.
FREE Summer Concerts in NYC
Tue, Jun. 5 2007
All three Mingus ensembles will perform free concerts in New York this summer:
Mingus Dynasty
Wednesday, June 27 at Madison Square Park
7:00 p.m.
Mingus Orchestra
Tuesday, July 31 at Washington Square Park
8:00 p.m.
The Mingus Big Band and Mingus Orchestra conducted by Gunther Schuller
Damrosch Park Bandshell
Lincoln Center Out of Doors
8:00 p.m.
See you there!
Sue Mingus @ Brooklyn Public Library Thursday
Tue, Jun. 5 2007
The Brooklyn Public Library's (BPL) annual Summer Reading Program kicks off on Thursday, June 7 at Central Library with "A Jazzy Summer Reading" featuring readings of autobiographies. Musician and jazz composer Paquito D'Rivera reads from his autobiography, A Sax Life, and Sue Mingus, widow of legendary composer, bassist and bandleader, Charles Mingus, reads from her memoir, Tonight at Noon: A Love Story, which was a New York Times Notable Book and a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year.
Location: Central Library, Grand Army Plaza, Second Floor Meeting Room. www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org
www.mingusmingusmingus.com
Review of Mingus Big Band at Bath:
"From the first unaccompanied notes of Lauren Sevian’s baritone saxophone it was clear that the Mingus Big Band was in powerful, energetic form, both as the highlight of this year’s Jazz Weekend at the Bath International Music Festival and at the midpoint of their current British tour.
Once Sevian’s growling sax established a crisp ostinato, the band roared in behind her, willing the audience to be swept along in the tide of its commitment to Charles Mingus’s music. His composition Moanin’ included an extended solo from Sevian, and also a brilliant trumpet outing for Ryan Kisor, with a repetitive choppy descending phrase that corkscrewed through the valves against the pounding rhythm of the band.
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His closing trio piece, Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love, with Kozlov bowing high into the cello register, showed that the band is not all bombast and derring-do, but is also capable of the melancholy reflection that was also an integral part of Mingus’s musical world.
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Excerpts from [Epitaph], notably Children’s Hour Dream, showing the range of Mingus’s writing, from Stravinsky-like voicings to jagged jazzy chording, were the most powerful pieces by what is currently the world’s most on-form jazz big band. If it is this good in concert, it’ll blow the roof off Ronnie Scott’s club when it winds up there tonight."
Though Charles Mingus long has been revered as a fearlessly iconoclastic musician, listeners cannot take his full measure until they've heard his "Epitaph."
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To hear "Epitaph" in its entirety, in a single evening, is to re-evaluate Mingus' stature as composer and innovator.
For though Mingus remains justly admired for tunes such as "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," the scale of his ambition and breadth of his achievement in "Epitaph" place him at the pinnacle of American composition. For starters, several movements in "Epitaph" are so daringly conceived and eloquently articulated that they stand on their own as brilliantly realized works.
The highlight of this Symphony Center jazz season occurred Friday evening: Charles Mingus' "Epitaph," played by a 31-piece band conducted by Gunther Schuller. Mingus intended this 2½-hour composition to be monumental, and it surely was. Its many contrary, simultaneous events approached Charles Ives' wildest creations, while its harmonic richness and variety of sonic effects approached Duke Ellington, and it included enough melodies to stuff several Mahler symphonies.
Yet "Epitaph" turns out to be a perfect title since it defines Mingus as an original synthesis of the past, present and future of music -- reaching out to the radical avant-garde with wandering dissonances worthy of Charles Ives; looking back to gospel, Jelly Roll Morton, Vernon Duke, bebop, Mingus's own greatest hits ("Better Get It In Your Soul"), and above all, Ellington. The screaming sonorities in the brass recall Stan Kenton and hardly anyone else in jazz, and Mingus took Ellington's use of plunger-mutes to new vistas of wild expression. There are solo opportunities for strangers to jazz like the oboe and bassoon (the latter wielded brilliantly by Michael Rabinowitz in "Wolverine Blues").
..."To me, regardless of what instrument he played, Mingus was one of the great jazz artists," McBride says. "And I'm going to have his music featured as long as I'm around to do anything about it."
For Schuller and Sue Mingus, the performances are a culmination of years of work and dedication.
"There's no telling how Charles would have done this, if he were here," says Mingus. "It would have been different, I'm sure. Probably different every night. He never looked back."
And that capacity for constant change and variation, believes Schuller, is part of the great, unpredictable beauty of "Epitaph" in performance.
"This work covers every possible kind of mood and character and expression that one can have in music," says Schuller. "It's a summary kind of work. And it reflects exactly the complexity of Mingus as a person. He was as gentle as a baby at times. At the other end of the spectrum, he could be as violent as a volcano. And it's all in 'Epitaph.' "
A composition that, as it turns out, might more accurately be titled "Legacy."
"This is one of the great pieces in the history of jazz," Schuller says. "Nobody else wrote a 19-movement piece lasting 2½ hours and ranging from simple blues to the most extravagantly complex Ivesian or Stravinksian kind of music. Not even Ellington did anything this ambitious."
