Charles Mingus Quintet The Charles Mingus Memorial Album

During 1960, bassist Charles Mingus led one of his finest bands, a pianoless quartet with Eric Dolphy (on alto, flute, and bass clarinet), trumpeter Ted Curson, and drummer Dannie Richmond. For this live concert, the band is augmented by the great tenor Booker Ervin for some stirring music. All of the music is memorable: "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting," "Prayer for Passive Resistance," "What Love," "Folk Forms No. 1," and "Better Get Hit in Yo' Soul." The immortal pianist Bud Powell sits in on a fine version of "I'll Remember April" and Dolphy and Ervin in particular generate a great deal of heat during some of their solos.

Although confined to a wheelchair and less than a year from his death, Charles Mingus supervised the recording sessions that resulted in this LP and its companion Me Myself An Eye. The music on this set utilizes a 27-piece band (including 11 saxophones and four guitars) on the 31-minute "Something Like a Bird" and a smaller 21-piece orchestra (only nine saxes and three guitars) for "Farewell Farwell." It seems that everyone wanted to play with (or at least for) Mingus during his last few years and such musicians as Lee Konitz, Charles McPherson, George Coleman, Mike Brecker, Ricky Ford, Pepper Adams, Randy Brecker, Jack Walrath, Slide Hampton, Jimmy Knepper, Larry Coryell and bassists Eddie Gomez and George Mraz help out on this spirited if overcrowded music.

Although confined to a wheelchair and less than a year from his death, Charles Mingus supervised the recording sessions that resulted in this LP and its companion Me Myself An Eye. The music on this set utilizes a 27-piece band (including 11 saxophones and four guitars) on the 31-minute "Something Like a Bird" and a smaller 21-piece orchestra (only nine saxes and three guitars) for "Farewell Farwell." It seems that everyone wanted to play with (or at least for) Mingus during his last few years and such musicians as Lee Konitz, Charles McPherson, George Coleman, Mike Brecker, Ricky Ford, Pepper Adams, Randy Brecker, Jack Walrath, Slide Hampton, Jimmy Knepper, Larry Coryell and bassists Eddie Gomez and George Mraz help out on this spirited if overcrowded music.

Although confined to a wheelchair and less than a year from his death, Charles Mingus supervised the recording sessions that resulted in this LP and its companion Me Myself An Eye. The music on this set utilizes a 27-piece band (including 11 saxophones and four guitars) on the 31-minute "Something Like a Bird" and a smaller 21-piece orchestra (only nine saxes and three guitars) for "Farewell Farwell." It seems that everyone wanted to play with (or at least for) Mingus during his last few years and such musicians as Lee Konitz, Charles McPherson, George Coleman, Mike Brecker, Ricky Ford, Pepper Adams, Randy Brecker, Jack Walrath, Slide Hampton, Jimmy Knepper, Larry Coryell and bassists Eddie Gomez and George Mraz help out on this spirited if overcrowded music.

After receiving four Grammy nominations for his highly successful series of recordings that "latinize" the music of John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Horace Silver, Conrad Herwig turns his attention to the legendary Charles Mingus. An imposing figure in jazz, Mingus was known for being complicated, volatile and a touched-by-genius innovator. As an homage to this influential artist, Conrad Herwig provides a fiery excursion into the world of Afro-Caribbean rhythms skillfully applied to Mingus' wildly imaginative compositions. Joining Herwig is special guest trumpeter Randy Brecker together with long-time "Latin Side" band colleagues pianist Bill O'Connell, reedman Craig Handy and the trumpet/flugelhorn of Alex Sipiagin with the rhythm section of Luques Curtis, Robby Ameen and Camilo Molina.