Charles Allen

Byron Allen - The Byron Allen Trio (1964) {ESP Disk ESP 1005 rel 1999}
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© 1964, 1999 ESP-Disk' / Calibre | ESP CD 1005
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Piano

Byron Allen Trio was among the first batch of ESP-Disk's jazz LPs. Recorded on the afternoon of September 25, 1964 at Mirasound Studio in midtown Manhattan, it was Allen's debut. He had been recommended to ESP-Disk' by Ornette Coleman, and one of the tracks, "Decision for the Cole-Man," reflects this connection. Allen and his trio also play in a style somewhat similar to that of Coleman's trio of that era with bassist David Izenson and drummer Charles Moffett, though that's not to say that Allen, bassist Maceo Gilchrist, and drummer Ted Robinson don't display a sound of their own on the four tracks here. In the years since, though Allen made only one other album (and that 15 years later), this LP acquired legendary stature among jazz fanatics.

Charles 'Baron' Mingus - West Coast, 1945-49 (2000) {Uptown Records UPCD 27.48}
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© 1945-49, 2000 Uptown Records | UPCD 27.48
Jazz / Bop / Bass

This anthology collects a number of obscure 78s by Charles Mingus, many of which have not been reissued since they were originally released during the 1940s. Many of the vocal features are fairly traditional ballads, and Mingus was by no means an inventive lyricist, but it is the strong solos by the musicians within these tracks and the often rather progressive arrangements (even if their execution is not always perfect) that generally merit the most attention.