Gheorghe

How much would I have liked to hear this. It´s interesting that Mingus until "Three or Four Shades of the Blues" was not really involved with guitar players, at least I don´t remember he used them in small bands or touring bands. There is a bit Spanish guitar on "Black Saint" but not really involved in the band playing, more as kind of an interlude here and there..... But Coryell really was involved with Mingus in his last two years of recording. He got much solo space, beside the "Three or Four..." I mostly think about his brilliant playing on "Three Worlds of Drums" and the "Farwell Farewell" with that wonderful solo on that great D flat tune...... So it would be interesting to know what stuff those five guitars played on that occasion you saw them. One of the most disappointing things that happend with jazz concerts in my youth was when the already scheduled concert tour of late autumn 1977 (it would have been a tour with Larry Coryell and Phillip Caterine to promote his albums). I already had made my plans to travel from Austria to Germany to see the event, it was advertised and all, and then it was cancelled. But at the same time Mingus had made that strange album with Hampton.....

I have this one. What impressed me most was the live set from Boston, the rest is a bit uneven. If I remember right there is one private track where someone took the drum chair who is not a drummer and it sounds terrible. But there is also a short broadcast where Buddy Rich (who is great but not necessarly my favourite) plays some superb brushes behind Eager.....

Yes, that´s it. At Kongresshouse they performed those two tunes, a bit of drum solo feature (Mr. Hi Hat and The Drum also waltzes" plus a fierce version of Round Midnite. Once thing I remember: The night before, Max Roach who already had arrived came down to Jazzland to hear and greet Art Farmer who performed. The next day, when it was Max Roach´s concert, Farmer was in the audience and greeted by Roach from the stage......

Very similar to my entry in Mingus´ music. When I still was not a jazz fan, maybe 12 or 13, someone had a sampler with Jazz History and the only thing I dug was the last two tracks: "Milestones" from the Miles Davis sextet, and one of Mingus´ late fifties tracks from those albums "Dynasty" or "Ah Um" and that´s where I started to become a jazz fan with ambitions to play myself. So I bought first a Miles Davis album (Steamin´) and then somebody had "Great Concert" but stated that it´s too advanced for him, I gave it a try and that it was !! The best music I had heard in my live util then ! Same here in other surroundings: In the summer of 1964 when I was 5 years old, we did our holiday in France, while Bud Powell was performing in a Beach Resort called "Edenville". To bad that I was only 5 and not yet a Powell fan !

I just started it a few days ago. Got it from my wife. Right now I´m at the point where Sonny first had heard Hawk´s "Body and Soul" and his idols where Louis Jordan and then Hawk.

What I listen to is very dependent on the certain mood I´m in. Usually I spin "Black Saint" in a warm spring night, when you can open the windows. But I have not cited it as my very favourite Mingus. If I might keep only one, it would be the 3 LP set "The Great Concert of Charles Mingus", you know Dolphy, Jordan, Byard, Richmond.....

Did you see Max Roach at Kongresshouse in 1978 ?

I saw Larry Coryell live in 1979, it was a trio with Alphonse Mouzon on drums and Julius Farmer on electric bass (I think he was Art Farmer´s nephew). Maybe it was a pickup trio, since Alphonse Mouzon and his electric band were also billed at that festival. It´s an interesting coincidence that also Sonny Rollins was one of the top acts of that festival and it was just a few weeks after Sonny had made that album which features Larry Coryell (Don´t Ask).

I have a similar Roach LP, also on Denon I think, they were very expensive. Mine is Live in Amsterdam and had the same personnel I saw live during that period: Cecil Bridgewater, Reggie Workman and Billy Harper.

Oh I love it ! Some of my very favourite tunes, like "In Walked Bud", "Evidence".....tunes that were always favourites of mine for set lists since some Monk tune usually is included in a gig.....

Some great Steve Grossman is on Miles Davis´ last album, that kind of Reunion with old friends in Paris, where they even play some stuff like "Dig", "Out of Blue" and so on. There is an acoustic sextet of Miles, Jackie McLean, Steve Grossman, Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Al Foster.....

Serena and me, at a fancy summer resort just before COVID started.

I know, that it gets little love, but I can say there is certain occasions where I like to hear it, especially very very late at night. The title track is just fantastic and really has that after hour feeling. Usually I listen to recorded music always after midnight, and sometimes, when I don´t want to hear more loud and rhythmic stuff , you know there is nights where you just are in that mood, you love it.

I was not aware of negative reviews and I even think, that I heard the long suite Cumbia live BEFORE it was in the record shops. Mingus himself announced it as a "Movie score we just had recorded". Same with "Three or Four Shades of the Blues" . Well again, I have heard live the title tune, also a kind of suite, but there was no guitars and no two basses." Noddin´ Ya Head Blues" also was performed, but much faster than on the record. Both albums reflected what Minguts actually performed in those days, but yeah, they are somehow overproduced. I first was reluctant when I saw the cover of "Three or Four Shades", with all them little fotos of the musicians, and see´n a white young hippie (Corryell) and a white old man (Rowles) didn´t really encourage me. Not that I wouldn´t have dug young hippies (I also had even longer hair at that time) or old gentlemen, I was used to other images of Mingus-Musicians. But the review of "Three or Four Shades of the Blues" in the important magazine "JazzPodium" was positive, even if the only "negative" remark was that it is not as deep or good as "Black Saint and Sinner Lady". Since sure I love "Black Saint and...." it wouldn´t be my first choice Mingus album anyway, so I was content to read a good review and bought the record. Too bad that the following tour, planned to promote that album, was chancelled because I was prepared to take the album to the concert to get it signed from the Master Himself.

The Coltrane-Ellington thing I remember I got from Serena, she has that thing she just read the interpret and knew she somehow heard me mention him, and bought it. Funny she knew the name "Coltrane" better then "Elllingon". The interesting thing is, Ellington is one of my favourite composers and he is compin so fine on the tunes, but other than Monk if he does his or elseone´s composition, I prefer to hear Ellingtons composition played by others. Same like a Dizzy with Basie LP I also got from her. She knew who´s Diz (or better: his cheeks) but had´n heard of Basie, and maybe the instrumentation quartet with Basie is quite thin. But they are some of the most interesting albums, and the most beautiful of those star-combinations is another one I got from her "Coltrane-Hartman" with that fantastic bop era balladeer.....

I think I heard him sing "Dinah" once, is that possible ? Liked it, quite of hi pitched voice. I think he was not the only one with different birth dates. I never knew when Hawk was born: Once I read 1902, or 1904 or even 1906. Anyway .....for the modern bop stuff he played and rote (Dig "Bean ´n the Boys" which I love to play) it´s wonderful how much ahead of his time he was. But all those senior players like Hawk, Rushing, Basie I see photos of them it seems they never was really young, they always looked a it like old men. Like on that film of Monk playin Blue Monk with Basie just sittin´ there, he really looks like an old man which sure he wasn´t when that old film was made...

Yes you mention it and I remember I must have it somewhere. When I was a youngster, I bought a lot of those "Spotlite" LPs, I think there is also one of Bird in Paris, but they published anything that was recorded of Bird, may it be good, may it be sad, may it have a better ore a barely acceptable sound..... I have a vague memory, that there is also tunes that Bird didn´t record much, some "Strike Up the Band" or "Fine and Dandy" or so. There´s also a very long Body & Soul but somehow the local musicians never know if to play ballad time or double time, so I think I remember they not always really together.... The rest might be standard bop repertory like the "Bird in Paris"....

´cause you mention it and you must be right: I think I even have the CD or LP of "Stardust". It seems it was not only the tune, but the album´s title too. But you know....I have certain tracks in my mind and hear `em in my head rite now while I write this, but I never know exactly to what album it belongs, even if I have the personnel in my head. I hear something that might have been a milestone in my developement but that´s all. The only thing I sure know is that I like his 50´s session more when Philly Joe Jones is on drums. Art Taylor was a wonderful guy and a very very fine drummer, but nevertheless the non plus ultra of his time, I mean pre-Tony Williams, pre Elvin Jones would be Philly J.J. for me.

I think this was a double LP from Prestige as there were many in the 70´s . Trane´s version of "Stardust" is on of the greatest ballad performances I ever heard. Not only Trane who anyway is one of the greatest musicians of the 20´s century, but also Red Garland´s solo and that wonderful bowed solo by Paul Chambers. And if I remember right, there is that fine version of "Good Bait" on it, as well as "Don´t talk about me", right? I don´t remember all the tracks, but I remember those three as some basic learning examples for my own musicial developement.

Both records were in all the record shops when I started to become very interested in the music of O.C. I still must have them somewhere. The "Theme from a Symphony" was played very very often by Ornette Coleman, I like that long track and Ornette´s outstanding solo. The other track from Morocco, I think it´s with local traditional musicians didn´t really work for me. I heard folk music in Tunisia with fine rhythm and which also had inspired Charles Mingus when he played in Tunisia and it laid the roots for Mingus´ last recording session "Three Worlds of Drums". But the Morocco track on Dancing in Your Head just couldn´t be understood by me, it doesn´t have that drive I find in other North African stuff......

Andi Steirer . And sure I keep you updated

That pic of the girl reminds me of something from my youth. I was partying somewhere and an Austrian girl, who though she was original Austrian, looked very much like that girl on the pic, and she wanted to date me. But somehow, then and now, such strong eyebrows never was my thing. I don´t like pencil eybrows either, but more that classic feminine styling. But what I observe on beauty&fashion nowadays, this type of eyebrows and hair styling has been en vogue since a few years. You even see blondes but what irritates me is too dark and too thick eyebrows, and long trousers as standard look. On that special occasion some 46 years ago, a middle aged American guy was sittin´at the bar and observed the scene and told me "you don´t know how lucky you are. She looks like an Indian girls and in the States the most beautiful girls are them indian type lookin´ girls" But I was more than reluctant and maybe just silly grinnin´ and sure must have had a few, since aged 18 I didn´t say no when alcoolic beer was around. About the bass fiddle. Yeah there are gals who play it, but when I was a kid and still to small, my aims was to play bass fiddle since I considered it the most masculine instrument. I really played bass for some years.

Thanks for that great analysis. I appreciate writings like that very very much. Not just posting album covers, but really THINK about the music itself. Best regards. Gh.

I´m not really a conoisseur if it´s about recorded documents, I think the first version of Round Midnight I had heard on record besides the Blue Note recording in the 40´s was recently a discovered document of the first Dizzy Gillespie big band at Spotlite, that means before Diz added conga players, most of all Chano Pozo whom I love. And it is Monk playin on piano on it, before he was replaced by John Lewis. But what is more important for me than when it was recorded is the tune itself. If I might be forced to hear only one tune, this one would be it. If I knew it will be the last time I play myself, Round Midnight would be it. I can say it all thru Round Midnight. And if there is something true about what religions tell about souls that exist after death, or if I get into believing that before I die, I ´d tell my folks to spin "Round Midnight" when my body get´s into the crematory, or if they get together after doin what they think with my ashes.....

Strange enough but I never ever had heard the Akyoshi-Tabackin band and it seams the only Akyoshi I ever heard is that piano solo on "I can´t get started" on the Mingus-Town Hall Concert, which sounds very similar to Lennie Tristano. It seems that Lew Tabackin as travelled much as a single with local rhythm sections in the last years, I somehow missed it. And I see so many postings about Eddie Palmieri, mostly from members who in general have very similar favourites like me, but before you posted that name, I haven´t even heard the name of him.....