Charles Mingus at the Jazz Workshop "Right Now"

[erhodes]

The Jazz Icons Series 2 box has all three of the videos from the Spring 1964 tour:

Oslo, April 12

Stockholm, April 13 (rehearsal)

Leige, April 19

The Oslo set is on a Shanachie VHS (ha!) commercial issue.  I mention it because it includes a little more of the introductory stage chatter than the JI dvd.  Mingus jokingly threatens to sue the house because he slipped slightly as he entered the stage area.

The JI single dvd from the series...Charles Minugs / Live In '64...can be had by itself.  I just saw three copies on Discogs.

[Gheorghe]

Yes, that Jazz Icons Series with Oslo, Stockholm and Leige. 

Oh I love that band so much. Only one thing, maybe it´s a question of tastes, but since I first heard the "Great Concert of Charles Mingus" from Paris (the 3 LP set from the America Label) which then was the only recorded stuff of Mingus from that tour, with the exception of "Townhall" in NY just before they went on tour, I must admit I have some difficulties with listening to Johnny Coles´ trumpet. My impression is, that the band, with such strong members as Dolphy, Byard and of course also Cifford Jordan, there is not much place for Coles´ trumpet. Maybe in the lead of "Orange" , which was meant to be for trumpet, but I can´t really get with Coles´ solos in context with Mingus. Coles somehow has a quite thin, plaintative sound and approach, somehow his sound reminds me of Ornette Coleman playing trumpet. I know there are lot fans of Johnny Coles, and I also like his BN "Little Johnny C." but not necessarly for his trumpet. 

[kh1958]

Well, I don't know,  I enjoy Johnny Coles' playing. He can also be heard with Gil Evans, who had a pretty good ear for interesting stylists. I heard him in person with Mingus Dynasty back in 1983. But at least, there are plenty of recordings from the 1964 tour without Johnny Coles, if he is not to your taste.

[felser]

7 hours ago, Gheorghe said:

Yes, that Jazz Icons Series with Oslo, Stockholm and Leige. 

Oh I love that band so much. Only one thing, maybe it´s a question of tastes, but since I first heard the "Great Concert of Charles Mingus" from Paris (the 3 LP set from the America Label) which then was the only recorded stuff of Mingus from that tour, with the exception of "Townhall" in NY just before they went on tour, I must admit I have some difficulties with listening to Johnny Coles´ trumpet. My impression is, that the band, with such strong members as Dolphy, Byard and of course also Cifford Jordan, there is not much place for Coles´ trumpet. Maybe in the lead of "Orange" , which was meant to be for trumpet, but I can´t really get with Coles´ solos in context with Mingus.

Same for me, and Great Concert (borrowed it from my college library when it first got USA domestic release on Prestige) was my introduction to that band, many years before I heard anything else from that tour (or much of anything else from Mingus at all, to be honest), so it has always stuck with me, especially "Meditations on Integration".

[mjazzg]

'At Monterey' was one of my entry albums to Jazz, followed very quickly by the 'Great Concert' and it was 'Meditations on Integration', that did if for me too

[Gheorghe]

On 23.5.2021 at 6:35 PM, mjazzg said:

'At Monterey' was one of my entry albums to Jazz, followed very quickly by the 'Great Concert' and it was 'Meditations on Integration', that did if for me too

I purchased "At Monterey" after "Great Concert" and especially liked that Duke Ellington Medley, but found that "Orange was the Color" can´t match with the Paris version with Dolphy, and on "Great Concert", Mingus plays one of his  best solos, on "Monterey" he does not solo and "Orange" is played more in a kind of rubato at the beginning. 

"Meditations": I like it more with the small group than that group augmented with studio musicians. 

Most Mingus LPs during my youth were on the french "America" label. There were so much, that I thought this is a label especially dedicated to Mingus.

On the back cover there were always advertised "Other Mingus LPs of interest" and there was a list of them:

Mingus with Max Roach (1955 Bohemia)
Chazz (same date 1955 Bohemia)
Town Hall concert (1964 before the European tour started)
Great Concert (Paris, 3 LPs)
Right Now (with Cliff Jordan, Jane Getz and Danny)
Mingus at Monterey which you mentioned (Then in the 70´s I thought its Montreux and I thought "Monterey" is the english translation of "Montreux".
My Favourite Quintet (Minneapolis 1965). 
 

Especially about "My Favourite Quintet": This was for long time OOP, until it was reissued on the Mosaic Box "Workshops 64/65).
It´s fine with Mc Pherson, Lonnie Hillyer, especially Byard, and Danny) but of course it is not as strong as the things with Dolphy.

But "So long Eric" is very fine with many tempo changes, some stride piano by Jakie Byard and so.

The ballad Medley is fine, Mingus great as always when it comes to play bass solos on ballads.

"Cocktails for Two" seems to be some pre-swing stuff from the 20´s . The best thing is Jakie Byards stride piano, he is always great on that. One strange thing: If Mingus chose to play some funny oldtime stuff, it reminds me of Sun Ra when he does some oldtime between his usual avantgarde program. It sounds like "Oldtime Jazz with a Space-Sound". Same with Mingus. I have difficulties hearing old time jazz in general, can´t get with that funny duck like sound of the alto and that screaming trumpets and that simple beat of old time drummers, but if someone like Mingus or Sun Ra gives some parody aspect to it, I can have a little fun with it. 

[Guy Berger]

On 5/23/2021 at 1:53 AM, Gheorghe said:

Yes, that Jazz Icons Series with Oslo, Stockholm and Leige. 

Oh I love that band so much. Only one thing, maybe it´s a question of tastes, but since I first heard the "Great Concert of Charles Mingus" from Paris (the 3 LP set from the America Label) which then was the only recorded stuff of Mingus from that tour, with the exception of "Townhall" in NY just before they went on tour, I must admit I have some difficulties with listening to Johnny Coles´ trumpet. My impression is, that the band, with such strong members as Dolphy, Byard and of course also Cifford Jordan, there is not much place for Coles´ trumpet. Maybe in the lead of "Orange" , which was meant to be for trumpet, but I can´t really get with Coles´ solos in context with Mingus. Coles somehow has a quite thin, plaintative sound and approach, somehow his sound reminds me of Ornette Coleman playing trumpet. I know there are lot fans of Johnny Coles, and I also like his BN "Little Johnny C." but not necessarly for his trumpet. 

Disagree.  The band sounded better with Coles, especially on ensembles.

[Daniel A]

On 2021-05-22 at 9:40 PM, adh1907 said:

On a related subject, this  colour film of Mingus rehearsing in Sweden, with Dolphy, Jordan, Coles and Byard is stunning. Sad dialogue about 5 mins in between Mingus and Dolphy  about how long he was planning to stay in Europe. Only seen this recently, not sure if it has been around before.

Anthony 

London

Pardon my ignorance but was this grouping recorded officially at all, Coles sounds beautiful, Jordan is powerful and Mingus so strong. 

This is truly fantastic. Thanks for posting. 

The text at the end falsely states that this was recorded in Norway. Also, no mention of what I believe was the original producer Simon Brehm who can be seen smiling at 14:55.

[Daniel A]

37 minutes ago, adh1907 said:

I would be smiling too if allowed to witness that rehearsal. Is Simon well known?

He was the one who discovered singer Alice Babs. As a bass player, band leader and eventually record company executive he had some influence on the Swedish music scene. He also produced some shows for Swedish television as the jazz series "Trumpeten" (the trumpet), including the Kenny Dorham Golden Circle gig which I believe is still on YouTube. 

He died from a heart attack in 1967.