Late Spring 1949

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.

Willie "The Lion" Smith had a career that was somewhat sporadically documented in phonograph records. Living almost until the age of 80, he waxed a fair number of piano solos over many decades and sat in from time to time here and there, but only occasionally led his own bands. The solos greatly outnumber his ensemble recordings, and so it is always interesting to hear this pianist operating as part of a group. On September 29, 1944, a sextet calling itself the Lion's Band cut four sides for the small-time Black & White label in New York. Trumpeter Max Kaminsky, clarinetist Rod Cless, and trombonist Frank Orchard made for a strong front line, perfect for Kid Ory's "Muskrat Ramble" and "Bugle Call Rag." Smith sang on his own sentimental composition, "How Could You Put Me Down"…

'Appalachian Spring' and 'El Salón Mexicó' are archetypical of what many people consider to be the sound of American music, evoking the vast landscapes, cowboys and pioneer spirit. Yet, in the 20th century perhaps only Stravinsky was as adept in as many styles as Aaron Copland [1900-1990]. His Piano Concerto, first performed by Serge Koussevitsky, is a good example of Copland the modernist but he also wrote chamber music, ballets, operas and film scores, as well as teaching, writing and latterly conducting. The winter of 1950 saw Copland take a break from writing his superlative 'Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson' and, inspired by a Pears and Britten recital in late 1949, he took five of his favourite American songs and arranged them for voice with piano. Pears and Britten liked them so much that they gave the premiere together at the Aldburgh Festival in 1950.

While she made her much-lauded ECM debut with a thought-provoking account of Schumann’s violin sonatas last year, German violinist Carolin Widmann’s reputation as a pioneering interpreter of contemporary music is spreading continiously. “The new record brings me back to my roots”, says Widmann. Teaming up with Simon Lepper, one of Britain’s foremost lied accompanists and a particularly fine chamber musician, she now presents a most varied spectrum of 20th century duo literature. “For more than a year we worked on the repertoire selection.