Mingus Black Saint

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady / Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (1963-64) {Impulse! 2-on-1 Series Remaster rel 2011}
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© 1963-64, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music | 06025 2780953
Jazz / Progressive Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modern Big Band / Post Bop / Bass / Piano

Of all the titles in the Impulse! 2 on 1 series, this volume may be the very finest. It pairs two indisputable classic Charles Mingus titles – both of which have endured for nearly 50 years – that were cut during the same year. While The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady was recorded on January 20, 1963, the recording that ended up as Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus was begun that very day, but not finished until September. The former album is rightly regarded as one of (if not the) Mingus' masterpieces for its use of colors, tonalities, expansive harmonies, and the juxtaposition of numerous aspects of the jazz tradition – from Ellingtonian swing to hard bop, to West Coast and new-thing jazz – employing a vocal chorus, and even Latin and flamenco flourishes in a single conceptual work played by an 11-piece orchestra.

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is one of the greatest achievements in orchestration by any composer in jazz history. Charles Mingus consciously designed the six-part ballet as his magnum opus, and – implied in his famous inclusion of liner notes by his psychologist – it's as much an examination of his own tortured psyche as it is a conceptual piece about love and struggle. It veers between so many emotions that it defies easy encapsulation; for that matter, it can be difficult just to assimilate in the first place. Yet the work soon reveals itself as a masterpiece of rich, multi-layered texture and swirling tonal colors, manipulated with a painter's attention to detail. There are a few stylistic reference points – Ellington, the contemporary avant-garde, several flamenco guitar breaks – but the totality is quite unlike what came before it. Mingus relies heavily on the timbral contrasts between expressively vocal-like muted brass, a rumbling mass of low voices (including tuba and baritone sax), and achingly lyrical upper woodwinds, highlighted by altoist Charlie Mariano.

John Lindberg Ensemble - The Catbird Sings (2000) {Black Saint 120198-2 rec 1999}
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© 2000 Black Saint | 120198-2
Jazz / Modern Creative / Post Bop / Progressive Jazz / Bass

And here is another winner from John Lindberg, in an ensemble with Andrew Cyrille on drums, Larry Ochs on sax and Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet. Not all tracks are played by all four musicians. The first piece is a wonderful slow meditative duet between trumpet and bass. The second, "Waltz Four", starts with a strong two-minute long bass intro, after which the three other musicians join, with a staggeringly beautiful melody in the high tones by Ochs, with solid thematic counterpoint by Smith.

Tonight at Noon: Three of Four Shades of Love marks the 80th anniversary of Charles Mingus' birth and is the seventh recording in a series that pays tribute to his music. The CD features the talents of the Mingus Big Band, a 14-piece rotating ensemble launched in 1991 by the widow of the composer/arranger/bassist, Sue Mingus. The thematic focus of the CD is love and its ten love songs also mark the debut of the Charles Mingus Orchestra, which is featured on four of the songs. The previously unreleased "Love's Fury" features a stellar arrangement by Syl Johnson as well as the very lyrical compositions Charles Mingus never quite received recognition for…