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http://www.bassplayer.com/story.asp?sectio...storycode=15212 Retro-Rama Charles Mingus’s 1927 Ernst Heinrich Roth By Dave Pomeroy | August 2006 After writing quite a few of these columns, it occurred to me that perhaps I would be missing the boat if I didn’t write about the original bass sound, the acoustic upright. But of course, I didn’t want to write about just any upright. Having seen various incarnations of the Mingus Big Band a few times during recent trips to New York City, I was blown away by the energy and spirit of the whole group, which is run efficiently by Charles Mingus’s widow, Sue Mingus, who has kept the flame burning since his 1979 death. In particular, I was really impressed with the bass work of Boris Kozlov, who does an amazing job filling legendary shoes, while bringing plenty of his own musical personality to the group. The first time I saw the band, I noticed immediately that he was playing Mingus’s famous “Lion’s Head” bass. Later that night, it struck me that this bass would be the perfect Retro-Rama subject. Boris has “custody” of the bass, and when I was in New York recently, he was kind enough to let me spend some time with it before a Mingus Orchestra show and in between sets. Having heard its enormous sound on record so many times, I was somewhat surprised that it wasn’t ten feet tall! As a longtime Mingus fan, I can’t begin to put into words what a thrill it was to play “The Bass,” as Charles called it. There is a special aura about it, for sure, and I felt honored to be in its presence. But like all great instruments, it is meant to be played. Once I got over my awe sufficiently enough to pluck a few notes, the instrument sounded even and full, with no obvious “wolf tones” or dead spots. As you might imagine, I was very happy (and deeply moved) to play a few of my favorite Mingus licks on it, and I loved its big sound and comfortable feel. Ernst Heinrich Roth, a second-generation instrument builder whose father founded the family business in 1877, built this bass in the late 1920s in Markneukirchen, Germany. The Roth is a e-size, 41w"-scale upright with a maple neck and headstock, and an ebony fingerboard. The body has a carved spruce top and flame-maple back and sides. The G string is quite close to the fingerboard edge, which may have facilitated Mingus’s unusual technique of “over bending” the G string, pulling it over the side of the neck for a percussive, almost flamenco-like sound that you can hear on many Mingus recordings. No one seems to know exactly when Mingus acquired this bass, but in the documentary film Mingus: Charles Mingus 1968 he calls it the “Mingus Fingers” bass, referring to the tune he wrote and recorded with Lionel Hampton in 1947. He is seen playing it in numerous photos dating to that time period. The unique “Lion’s Head” carving (which has also been called the “Dragon’s Head”) is of unknown origin, but it’s definitely not original; it is easy to tell that it was carved from a typical scroll. A fan of gut strings, Mingus used Golden Spiral strings on this bass. While Boris prefers steel strings, the instrument still has a big, warm, earthy sound. A great example of Boris’s tone on this bass can be heard on the latest Mingus Big Band Orchestra & Dynasty CD, I Am Three [sunnyside, 2005]—especially on the track “Tensions,” which he also arranged. The bass has been fitted with a David Gage pickup, which sounds great onstage with the Mingus Band. David did some work on this bass in the 1970s while Mingus was still alive, and he has continued to maintain it periodically for the Mingus estate. It has been damaged and repaired many times over the years but has survived surprisingly well, all things considered. Special thanks go to Boris Kozlov, David Gage, and especially Sue Mingus for making this article possible. It is a beautiful, wondrous thing that this instrument, an icon of jazz music history, is still being played rather than collecting dust in a warehouse or sitting in a museum somewhere. Whenever the Mingus Big Band plays—whether in New York City or around the world—the spirit of Charles Mingus’s and his music is alive and well, and this bass is still making magic. Now, if it could only talk . . . . Until next time, groove on, brothers and sisters!

But he ships for only $36.14.

I quite like the duet recording with Marion Brown, Songs of Love and Regret. Are there more with Marion Brown?

Salt should only be placed on a watermelon while listening to one's treasured Kenny G recordings.

I disagree. It is actually pretty good. Larry Coryell sounds terrific throughout. It suffers by comparison to the preceding several records but it is worthy, in my opinion.

If you haven't heard them, you also need Tiajuana Moods and A Modern Jazz Symposium of Poetry and Music, which also feature Gene Shaw.

There is another thread on this topic, and the answer (indirectly from Big John Patton) is that it is Larry Young.

Saxophone Vagina is a man? How disappointing.

I received my Coltrane box yesterday--I ordered on July 15.

That's a nice schedule--I would like to see every engagement on it.

I thought about going to see the trio at Birdland last month when I was in NYC last month, but didn't go... Now I regret. He'll be at Birdland again on Sept. 20 - 23, although not with this trio. It's part of the Coltrane 80th birthday celebration. Some people may not know he was the first pianist in the Coltrane quartet. I caught the Kuhn/Carter/Foster trio 20 years ago at the Regattabar in Cambridge, MA, when they toured behind their first recording together. Outstanding! I saw the Steve Kuhn Trio at the Kitano a year or so ago--it was quite good, Blue Note can sign me up for this recording, along with the Charles Tolliver and Kenny Burrell. I will probably pass on the others. Where's Jason Moran though?

Search Birding / Wild Birds Mockingbirds Bullies and Songsters What bird is that singing so sweetly, so loudly, and for SO long in the middle of the night? If you're in North America, most likely it is the Northern Mockingbird, (Mimus polyglottos). This bird, whose Latin name means "many-tongued mimic," may sing the songs of up to two hundred other birds but it also may be the bully of your backyard, chasing all the other birds away. The Northern Mockingbird is a long-tailed and somewhat short-winged bird, will a dark strong but short beak. It is light gray with black wings that have two distinctive white wing bars that appear to flash when flying. The long tail is black with white edges. It is about 10 inches in length with a wingspan of 13-15 inches. This bird is found throughout the southern half of the United States and appears to be expanding its range northwards, especially in the Northeast U.S. Northern Mockingbirds are also found down into Mexico and northern Central America but it shows up occasionally in Europe as well as Alaska! In addition to singing songs of other birds, the Northern Mockingbird has an uncanny knack of picking up sounds of your neighborhood, such as a squeaky gate, a barking dog, a horse's neigh, or even a wolf whistle of teenage boys! If you have a nearby mockingbird, try whistling a tune each time you see it. You might teach it a new song. Many a birder has heard an elusive bird only to discover that he was tricked by a mockingbird. If you hear a song repeated 3-5 times, then a different song repeated, you might be listening to a Northern Mockingbird. Every evening as the sun begins to set, there is a Northern Mockingbird in our yard that flies to the peak of the roof, pouring out sweet songs. He'll move to the fence after a bit, singing new songs, then flit over to the telephone line and continue to sing until the sun goes down as if he's tell the world that all is well. He'll keep a vigilant eye on his nest during the night, ever ready to defend the young birds. The most numerous songs are sung by males without a mate. Unfortunately, the middle of the night is the time these bachelor birds loudly sing their repertoire, attempting to find an unattached female. My husband has remarked that he is unsure if the females are attracted by the songs or whether they decide to be the male mockingbird's mate so they can get some sleep! Mockingbirds are primarily insect-eaters, gobbling up the unwary bugs in your yard. They also absolutely love fruit but will eat most anything. These backyard bullies will even chase off other birds from feeders that they are not even interested in using. Northern Mockers will run along the lawn after an insect as well as forage in trees and bushes. In some habitats, they will feast on crayfish, lizards and even small snakes. Northern Mockingbirds form long-term pairs and together build cup-shaped nests about 3-10 feet off the ground in trees and snags. The nests are built of short sticks, leaves, discarded bits of string and other found materials, and lined with softer materials. The female lays 2-6 eggs and incubates them while the male fiercely defends the territory from predators, anything from another bird, snake, dog, or even a person too close to their nest. The eggs hatch in 12-13 days, and the young birds grow quickly with both parents feeding the hungry brood. 11-13 short days pass and then the the young mockingbirds are ready leave the nest, try their wings, and live on their own. If you have a mockingbird that drives other birds from your feeders, try setting up a feeder with tempting tidbits that Northern Mockingbirds are fond of eating. Put this feeder separate from the others, preferably with trees or even a house between them. Fill the mockingbird's feeder with goodies like fruit of all kinds, raisins, fresh corn, leftover crusts of bread, raw hamburger, mealworms, holly berries, and even meat scraps. Try hanging a bunch of grapes on the feeder from cups hooks that you can screw into the wood. Once the mockingbird discovers the treats, you'll be sure that he'll come back time and time again. http://birding.about.com/library/weekly/aa062001a.htm

Cary Denigris, Eric Person and a bassist whose name is escaping me were with Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society in the mid-1980s (When Colours Play and Texas)--after that edition of the Decoding Society broke up, Chico Hamilton hired them intact as "Euphoria" and has made a number of excellent recordings over the years (on Soul Note and other labels). At some point Paul Ramsey replaced the original bassist, and more recently Eric Person left the group. In other words, Cary Denigris has been Chico Hamilton's guitarist for nearly 20 years, I believe.

I've picked up a couple of excellent Chess anthologies from yourmusic.com. Chess Blues Guitar, for one--It's a 2Cd set so you have to order it. http://www.yourmusic.com/browse/album/Vari...=BROWSE_001_COL And a four CD anthology called Chess Blues. http://www.yourmusic.com/browse/album/Vari...=BROWSE_001_COL

The Dallas store is like that as well. It's the only real CD store left in Dallas. I would hate to see it close.

Oh my - a great Texas Tenor player I had (almost) forgotten about. Has this one been issued on CD? MG Not to my knowledge, but I did recently find a used Japanese mini-LP CD reissue of Off the Wall, another of his Argo recordings. There's also the excellent, Let's Swing, on OJC.

Budd Johnson--Ya! Ya! (Argo)

That's a great present, and congratulations. One of the best things about it is that it will cause you to re-explore your entire collection when you import songs to your itunes library. This process is highly addictive, as well as most enjoyable.

You likely would get alot more recommendations here: http://blindman.forumhoster.com/index.php

when did you place your order? My Coltrane box order was shipped yesterday, and I placed the order on July 15.

Maybe not "new" technically speaking, but among younger blues musicians, I really like these three. Little Jimmy King--Unfortunately he died a few years ago in his 30s, but he was an excellent guitarist who played with Albert King at the end of his life, and he's a fine singer. I recommend, Little Jimmy King and the Memphis Soul Survivors, Something Inside of Me, and Live at Monterey. Lucky Peterson--He's quite good on guitar, organ and vocals. He used to appear around Dallas fairly regularly. A very charismatic performer. His albums are a mixed bag; all will have at least a few good tracks. I recommend Black Midnight Sun as perhaps the best. Melvin Taylor--He's a stunning guitar virtuoso who plays weekly at Rosa's in Chicago. I caught him once in New York, and he's dazzling. All of his recordings on Evidence are worthwhile.

I don't know but I would guess Jaki Byard.

I have a hard time finding current blues artists that appeal to me. The most interesting "new" blues artist that I've discovered recently is Otis Taylor. He writes interesting, powerful songs, has a distinctive sound, and melds together country and electric blues. I recommend all of his recordings (including White African, Double V, Truth is Not Fiction, When Negroes Walked the Earth, Respect the Dead and Below the Fold).

Volume 1 is also probably the best of the three volumes.

I love Magic Sam....seeing this post has made me throw on "Black Magic", his late 1968 date on Delmark; wonderful recording! m~ Yes, that is an invitation from blues heaven. If you haven't seen the DVD, Magic Sam performs All Your Love (playing Earl Hooker's guitar) on one of the terrific American Folk Blues Festival DVDs, put out by Experience Hendrix.