Charles Mingus: Cornell 1964 auf 2 CDs

Over 20 years after this incredible concert was recorded, the tapes were recently discovered by jazz legend Charles Mingus’s widow, Sue. This March 18, 1964 performance at Cornell University, presented in its entirety on 2 CDs, is one of the most joyous and exciting performances of Charles Mingus’s considerable career. The band — with trumpeter Johnny Coles, reedmen Eric Dolphy and Clifford Jordan, pianists Jaki Byard and Dannie Richmond — had only been together for a few weeks when the concert took place, and it is obvious from the outset that this was a happy and satisfying experience for all.

Highlights include half-hour excursions into Mingus’s “Fables of Faubus” and “Meditations,” a rollicking extended version of Billy Strayhorn’s “Take the ‘A’ Train,” and Eric Dolphy’s unique arrangement of Fats Waller’s “Jitterbug Waltz.” All of Mingus’s bands had a volcanic swing, but few attained a level of empathy and interplay like this edition of The Jazz Workshop. The band went on to perform and record a celebrated Town Hall concert in New York City before leaving for a triumphant European tour. Eric Dolphy would remain in Europe where he died that June.

Rezensionen

G.​ Filtgen in Stereo 10/07: "Mit welcher Intensität der Bassist das Repertoire mit einer Gruppe individueller Spieler - allen voran der Multiinstrumentalist Eric Dolphy - einübte, belegt das sensationelle Konzert an der Cornell University.​ Zu den Höhepunkten zählt die fast halbstündige, mit leidenschaftlichen Improvisationen angereicherte Version von "Fables of Faubles".​