Playlist Week of 2013-01-12

* Tallis: The Tallis Scholars Sing Thomas Tallis (d.1) (Gimmel 2CD)

* Buxtehude: Seven Sonatas, Op.1 (Holloway/ter Linden/Mortensen) (Naxos CD)

* Biber: Violin Sonatas (Romanesca) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)

* Vivaldi: Concertos For Two Violins (Venice Baroque Orchestra/Carmignola/Mullova) (Archiv Prod. CD)

* Satie: L’Oeuvre pour piano (Ciccolini) (d.3-5) (EMI Classics 5CD)

* Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy & Dial Recordings (d.1) (Savoy/Atlantic 8CD)

* Sun Ra: Cosmo Earth Fantasy: The Sub-Underground Series Vols.1-2 (Saturn/Art Yard CD)

* Charles Mingus: Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (Impulse! CD)

* Charles Mingus: Music Written for Monterey 1965, Not Heard… (Sue Mingus/Sunnyside 2CD)

* Muhal Richard Abrams Orchestra: Rejoicing With The Light (Black Saint CD)

* Muhal Richard Abrams Octet: View From Within (Black Saint CD)

* Julius Hemphill: Dogon A.D. (Arista/International Phonograph CD)

* Matthew Shipp & Martin Bisio: Floating Ice (Relative Pitch CD)

* Joe Morris/Agustí Fernández/Nate Wooley: From The Discrete To The Particular (Relative Pitch CD)

* Joëlle Léandre & Jérôme Bourdellon: Evidence (Relative Pitch CD)

* Parliament: Mothership Connection (Casablanca CD)

* Parliament: Funkytelechy vs. The Placebo Syndrome (Casablanca CD)

* D’Angelo: Voodoo (Virgin CD)

* Sly & The Family Stone: Stand! (Epic/Sundazed LP)

* Sly & The Family Stone: There’s A Riot Goin’ On (Epic/Sundazed LP)

* Grateful Dead: Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA 11/9/73 (GDP/Rhino 3HDCD)

* Grateful Dead: The Omni, Atlanta, GA 4/2/90 (GDP/Rhino 3HDCD)

* Jeff Beck: Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop (Epic/Friday Music LP)

* David Byrne & Brian Eno: My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts (Sire LP)

* David Byrne: Music From “The Catherine Wheel” (Sire CD)

* Guided By Voices: The Bears For Lunch (GBV, Inc. LP)

* The Future Sound Of London: The Isness (Virgin CD)†

* Opeth: Blackwater Park (Music For Nations/Sony CD/DVD)

* Opeth: Lamentations: Live At Shepherd’s Bush Empire 2003 (Music For Nations/KOCH DVD)

* Opeth: The Roundhouse Tapes (Peaceville 2CD)†

* Opeth: Watershed (Roadrunner CD)†

* Opeth: In Live Concert At The Royal Albert Hall (Roadrunner 3CD/DVD)†

* Opeth: Heritage (Roadrunner CD/DVD)†

* Katatonia: Dead End Kings (Peaceville CD)†

* Anathema: A Natural Disaster (Music For Nations/Sony CD)†

* Anathema: Falling Deeper (KScope CD)†

* Anathema: We’re Here Because We’re Here (KScope CD)†

* Anathema: Weather Systems (The End CD)†

* Neurosis: Honor Found In Decay (Neurot MP3)†

* Baroness: Yellow & Green (Relapse 2LP)

* Alcest: Écailles de Lune (Prophecy Productions CD)†

* Alcest: Les Voyages de L’Âme (Prophecy Productions CD)†

* Earth: Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light I (Southern Lord 2LP)

* Earth: Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light II (Southern Lord 2-45RPM LP)

* Grails: Burning Off Impurities (Temporary Residence 2LP)

* Grails: Deep Politics (Temporary Residence 2LP)

* Yakuza: Beyul (Profound Lore CD)

* Jack White: Blunderbuss (Third Man LP)

* The Sword: Apocyphon (Razor & Tie CD)†

* Ex-Cops: True Hallucinations (Fat Possum MP3)†

†=iPod

‡=car

Commentary:

Following up on last week’s playlist, I picked up the missing  piece of the Charles Mingus puzzle, Music Written for Monterey 1965 – Not Heard…Played in its Entirety at UCLA. Conceptually, this belongs with the other stuff on that Mosaic set, but I can kind of understand why it was not included. Originally issued in 1966 as a two-LP set on Mingus’s own label, only 200 copies were pressed and was "officially" unavailable ever since. It was finally reissued on CD by Sue Mingus and Sunnyside Records in 2006 and is still in print, so I could see why Mosaic did not include it in their otherwise complete box set (either that or Ms. Mingus simply refused to license it). Unfortunately, when Charles Mingus attempted to reissue the LP in 1976, he was shocked to discover the original master tapes were destroyed by Capitol Records, where they had been placed in storage. He was told by a representative that Capitol had advertised the “disposal of obsolete custom tapes” in the trade papers, to which Mingus sardonically responded, “Who reads the trades?” (see liner notes). Accordingly, the Sunnyside CDs are taken from clean original pressings and digitally restored as faithfully as possible.

Recorded on September 25, 1965, a week after the truncated appearance at Monterey, it contains three more pieces composed for the occasion. But unlike the more straightforward performance heard at Monterey, the UCLA gig was a lot looser, more like an open rehearsal than a concert, Mingus hectoring the band in the true spirit of a “Jazz Workshop.” There are a couple of false starts as the octet tries to play complicated opening bars of “Once Upon a Time, There Was a Holding Corporation Called Old America” (a/k/a “The Shoes of the Fisherman’s Wife Are Some Jive-Ass Slippers”). After the second breakdown, Mingus dismisses Hobart Dotson, Jimmy Owens, Julius Watkins and Howard Johnson for “mental tardiness,” telling them to go “to the back room and figure this thing out.” Then Mingus, Dannie Richmond, Lonnie Hillyer and Charles McPherson rip into a scorching version of “Ode to Bird and Dizzy.” Ouch! The chastened musicians then return to the stage for rest of the set, eventually executing a complete take of “Once There Was A Holding Corporation…” After that tentative beginning, the band really starts to gel and Mingus’s joy is audible as he shouts encouragement to his soloists and prods drummer Dannie Richmond to take it up a notch. The set ends with a moving rendition of “Don’t Let It Happen Here,” with Mingus reciting an adaptation of Pastor Martin Niemoller’s famous anti-fascist poem, "First They Came..."

As with the other recordings Mingus made for his low-budget, mail-order label in the 1960s, the sound quality is less than ideal to begin with, beyond the loss of the original master tapes. Given the changeable nature of the music, the technicians on the UCLA engineering staff struggle with balance and levels and there is significant distortion to be heard in spots as well as the thumps and booms of microphones being moved around on stage. Nevertheless, it mostly sounds pretty good and as a raw, un-redacted document of Mingus’s voluble and tempestuous personality it is unparalleled. As Sue Mingus points out in her liner notes, “This is an inside view of a particular period in Mingus’s creative life and a concert whose difficulties and rewards are like none other.”  Indeed, this is a crucial piece of the Mingus discography, despite its obvious flaws. It would have been nice to have this included on the pricey Mosaic set but the Sunnyside edition is very nicely done with extensive liner notes and is still readily available—I had to have it, warts and all!

Playlist Week of 2013-01-05

* Charles Mingus: The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (Impulse! CD)

* Charles Mingus: The Jazz Workshop Concerts 1964-65 (Mosaic 7CD)

* Andrew Hill: Dance Of Death (Blue Note CD)

* Andrew Hill: Mosaic Select (d.1) (Mosaic 3CD)

* Andrew Hill: Mosaic Select – Solo (d. 1) (Mosaic 3CD)

* Billy Cobham: Spectrum (Atlantic CD)

* Weather Report: Heavy Weather (Columbia/Legacy SACD)

* Terje Rypdal: Odyssey: In Studio & In Concert (d.1-2) (ECM 3CD)

* Frank Ocean: Nostalgia Ultra (Frank Ocean MP3)†/‡

* Frank Ocean: Channel Orange (Island/Def Jam CD)†/‡

* John Fahey: The Voice Of The Turtle (Takoma/4MWB LP)

* John Fahey: America (Takoma/4MWB 2LP)

* Gram Parsons: GP (Reprise/Mobile Fidelity SACD)

* Gram Parsons: Grievous Angel (Reprise/Mobile Fidelity SACD)

* Grateful Dead: Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, NY 3-26-90+ (GDP/Rhino 3HDCD)

* Grateful Dead: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, LI, NY 3-30-90 (GDP/Rhino 3HDCD)

* The Band: Rock Of Ages (Capitol/Mobile Fidelity 2LP)

* The Velvet Underground: Scepter Studios Sessions 4-25-66 (Polydor/Universal LP)

* Deep Purple: Who Do We Think We Are! (Warner Bros. LP)

* Deep Purple: Burn (Warner Bros. LP)

* Deep Purple: Stormbringer (Warner Bros./Friday Music LP)

* Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath (Warner Bros./Rhino LP)

* Van Der Graaf Generator: Pawn Hearts (Virgin/4MWB LP)

* This Mortal Coil: It’ll End In Tears (4AD HDCD)

* Guided By Voices: Let’s Go Eat The Factory (GBV, Inc. LP)

* Guided By Vocies: “Doughnut For A Snowman” (side B) (GBV, Inc 7”)

* Guided By Voices: “Chocolate Boy” (side B) (GBV, Inc. 7”)

* Guided By Voices: Class Clown Spots A UFO (GBV, Inc. LP)

* Guided By Voices: “Keep It In Motion” (side B) (GBV, Inc. 7”)

* Guided By Voices: “Jon The Croc” (side B) (GBV, Inc. 7”)

* Guided By Vocies: “Class Clown Spots A UFO” (side B) (GBV, Inc. 7”)

* Guided By Voices: The Bears For Lunch (GBV, Inc. LP)

* Guided By Voices: “White Flag” (side B) (GBV, Inc. 7”)

* Guided By Voices: “Everywhere Is Miles From Everywhere” (side B) (GBV, Inc. 7”)

* Guided By Voices: “Hangover Child” (GBV, Inc. 7”)

* Neurosis: Honor Found In Decay (Neurot MP3)†

* Lambchop: Nixon (Merge CD)

* Lambchop: Is A Woman (Merge CD)

* Lambchop: Aw Come On (Merge CD)

* Lambchop: No You Come On (Merge CD)

* Lambchop: Damaged (Merge CD)

* Steven Wilson: Grace For Drowning (KScope BD)

* Opeth: Damnation (Music For Nations/KOCH CD)

* Opeth: Jazz Club Nefertiti, Gothenburg, Sweden 12-02-12 (AUD FLAC)

* Opeth: Jazz Club Nefertiti, Gothenburg, Sweden 12-03-12 (AUD FLAC)

* Storm Corrosion: Storm Corrosion (Roadrunner CD/BD)

* Mastodon: Remission (Relapse 2LP)

* Mastodon: Leviathan (Relapse CD)

* Mastodon: Blood Mountain (Reprise 2-45RPM LP)

* Mastodon: Crack The Skye (Reprise DVD)

* Mike Scheidt: Stay Awake (Thrill Jockey LP)

* Astra: The Black Chord (Metal Blade CD)

* The Sword: Age Of Winters (Kemado CD)

* The Sword: Gods Of The Earth (Kemado CD)

* The Sword: Apocryphon (Razor & Tie CD)

* Wild Nothing: Nocturne (Captured Tracks CD)†/‡

†=iPod

‡=car

Commentary:

My Christmas present took a while to get here for some reason but Charles Mingus: The Jazz Workshop Concerts 1964-65, finally arrived in the mailbox this week: seven CDs recorded during one of the mighty peaks of Mingus’s storied career—including over two hours of never-before-heard music. As usual with Mosaic Records, the long-running boutique label devoted to smartly-compiled jazz anthologies, this box set is meticulously annotated with liner notes by biographer Brian Priestly (as well as Mingus’s widow, Sue) and the music is presented in the best possible sound quality. I’ve only had a chance to listen to it all the way through once, but it is truly a box of treasures.

Starting off with the famous concert at New York’s Town Hall on April 4, 1964, it is finally available here in its complete form and sounding so good it’s like hearing this music for the first time. Mingus’s quintet with Jaki Byard on piano, Dannie Richmond on drums, Johnny Coles on trumpet, Clifford Jordan on tenor sax and the amazing Eric Dolphy on alto, flute and bass clarinet, is definitely one of the all-time great bands in jazz. They were well-versed in Mingus’s complex and infinitely flexible compositions yet also superlative improvisers, bringing extraordinary creativity to the extended open sections built into the works while being able to turn on a dime and return to written material. Dolphy shines in this setting, especially his duets with Mingus, which start to take on a startling vocal quality, uncannily sounding like they are conversing through their instruments. The band then took off for Europe for a three-week tour and the set picks up six days later at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. While most of this concert was officially released as two-LP set in 1985 on the French Ulysse label, it is restored here to its full length and proper sequence. While sharing a similar setlist to the Town Hall concert, a cursory comparison shows the almost-limitless potential of this astonishing group of musicians. Many of the concerts on this tour were broadcast on the radio and subsequently bootlegged but these are not included on this set, which consists of material recorded by Mingus for his fledgling Charles Mingus Enterprises, an early example of an independent self-released record label in jazz [FN1].

Dolphy stayed behind in Europe (prompting the Mingus title, “So Long, Eric”), only to die two months later from undiagnosed diabetes—a terrible loss in the history of jazz. He was only 36 years old. Mingus, however, soldiered on. The set continues with Mingus’s first appearance at the Monterey Jazz Festival on September 20, 1964 with Charles McPherson and Lonnie Hillyer taking over on alto and trumpet respectively, while John Handy sits in tenor. The soloists undoubtedly lack the fire and sheer inventiveness of Dolphy at the height of his powers, but they hold their own and the arrangements have mutated in interesting ways, as Mingus was wont to do as his personnel changed. The following year’s Monterey set is included here for the first time ever, an abbreviated but fascinating set of new music for an octet including Julius Watkins on French horn and Howard Johnson on tuba [FN2]. Finally, we get an entire two-hour performance at the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota from May 13, 1965. While some of this music was independently released (in miniscule quantities) as My Favorite Quintet, here we get the complete concert (in stereo!)—and it’s a barn-burner. By this time the new front line had settled into their respective roles and the music rivals the intensity of the Dolphy quintet while expertly executing the vast and twisted repertoire (check out the hilarious send-up of “Cocktails for Two,” a tune Mingus would call when he suspected the audience was more interested in drinking than listening to his music).

All that said, this lovingly prepared box set is not meant for Mingus neophytes. Live recordings are always a dicey proposition—especially for a shoe-string operation in the early ‘60s—and technical anomalies abound, including spots of significant distortion and noise, all of which might put most people off. However, if you’re like me and already own the essential discography (plus a number of bootlegs), you absolutely need this set. And don’t get me wrong: the sound quality on the Town Hall, Amsterdam and Minneapolis tapes is just fine—and way better than what was previously available. Even if you think you have most of this stuff, the two hours of extra material makes it essential. Limited to an edition of 7500 copies, The Jazz Workshop Concerts 1964-65 is only available by mail order directly from Mosaic. If you’re a Mingus (and/or Dolphy) freak, you can’t afford to miss it!

+++

[FN1] But see, also, The Great Concert of Charles Mingus (Verve) taken from the April 19, 1964 concert at the Theatre Champs-Elysees, Paris as well as Charles Mingus in Europe Vols.1-2, recorded at the Wuppertal Town Hall on April 26, 1964, released in cooperation with the Mingus estate on Enja Records.

[FN2] Due to circumstances beyond Mingus’s control, the September 18, 1965 set at Monterey was only about thirty minutes long, prompting the eventual release of Music Written for Monterey 1965, Not Heard…Played in its Entirety at UCLA, which sadly, is not included on this Mosaic box. It is, however, still in print as a two-CD set on Sunnyside—and I am planning to pick it up as soon as possible.