The complete long unavailable concert by Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy at the Salle Wagram, in Paris, for the first time ever on a single collection. As a bonus, we have added the two complete sets by the Chico Hamilton Quintet with Dolphy at Newport '58, including an extended previously unissued version of "Pottsville U.S.A." on which Dolphy plays a long solo on alto sax.
Digitally remastered and expanded three CD deluxe edition of this 1972 album housed in a cardboard replica of a wooden box. Includes a remastered version of the original album with a wealth of unreleased material recorded during those sessions and others recorded at Bearsville Studios throughout 1974. The set closes with a newly unearthed, 30-minute interview Charles did that was recorded shortly before the Bobby Charles album was released in August 1972.
Hooking up with the Band, specifically Rick Danko and their producer John Simon, was one of the smartest moves Bobby Charles ever made. His subsequent eponymous album on Bearsville not only gave him a bigger audience, but led to the perfect production for his sly, subtle blend of New Orleans R&B, rock & roll, and country…
Admirers of the string quartets of Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy, and Maurice Ravel will be happy to discover the refined string quartets of Charles Koechlin, a contemporary of those composers who wrote in a rather similar vein. These attractive chamber works, like the rest of Koechlin's oeuvre, are quite obscure and had been unduly neglected until the Ardeo Quartet chose to record them for its debut CD on Ar Re-Se. The String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 51, is dated 1911-1913, though it appears to have gestated since 1902, and the String Quartet No. 2, Op. 57, was mostly composed between 1911 and 1916, though its sketches show some material going back to 1909; both works therefore partake of musical styles developed between fin de siècle Impressionism and the later innovations of Erik Satie and Les Six, but these works reveal a stronger emphasis on the former. The sweet, placid music that flows in both quartets is balanced by some jaunty, folk-like elements and occasional flirtations with changing time signatures and polytonality, but the calm atmosphere of these quartets is largely undisturbed by the encroachments of modernism.
Candid may not have the same name brand recognition as, say Blue Note or Impulse! But during its brief existence (roughly 1960 to 1963), the label made its mark on the jazz and blues worlds—as a recent series of remastered reissues, including LPs by Abbey Lincoln, Max Roach, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Otis Spann, ably demonstrates. The cream of the crop is Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus, recorded in October 1960 and released the following year. It’s a thoroughly crackling affair, highlighting the composer at one of his many peaks and featuring an awesome lineup of musicians: Mingus’ trusted drummer Dannie Richmond, underrated trumpet player Ted Curson, and—best of all—the inimitable alto sax and bass clarinet stylings of Eric Dolphy.
Charles Mingus' finest recordings of his later period are two Atlantic LPs, Changes One and Changes Two. The first volume features four stimulating Mingus originals ("Remember Rockefeller at Attica," "Sue's Changes," "Devil Blues," and "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love") performed by a particularly talented quintet (tenor saxophonist George Adams who also sings "Devil Blues," trumpeter Jack Walrath, pianist Don Pullen, drummer Dannie Richmond, and the leader/bassist). The band has the adventurous spirit and chance-taking approach of Charles Mingus' best groups, making this an easily recommended example of the great bandleader's music.
In honor of what would have been Ray Charles’ 90th birthday year, Tangerine Records is releasing the limited edition box set, True Genius, on September 10th. The record label, which the late legend founded in 1962, has remastered 90 of Charles’ most important works for the six-CD box set.