Charles Mingus and His Jazz Groups: Mingus Dynasty, Columbia 52922
Yusef Lateef: The Diverse Yusef Lateef / Suite 16, Rhino 71522
Reviewed by Scot Hacker
Anyone who owns the 1988 reissue of "The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife" will have all but two of these tracks -- but not the way Mingus wanted them to be heard. That release presented the session (Mingus' second for Columbia) in an unedited version. However, if one agrees that editing is an important part of the creative process for any artist, then that release was a dishonor to Mingus' vision, as he commonly used the two-track technology of the day not only to substitue sections, but to drastically cut what he saw as overflow. This trimmed-down reissue gives us Mingus' final, edited realization of the 1959 sessions.
Playing on the idea of Dynasty, the cover shot pictures Mingus in the garb of Imperial China, draped in a silken robe with gold brocaded dragons and a towering, embroidered hat, looking every bit the magnificent leader he was. The recording actually spans two dates: November 1 and November 13, 1959, with two separate but similarly configured bands. The first date appears somewhat tighter, more compressed, the latter slightly looser, the rough edges left a little rough as if to remind you that this music is about the ambiguous affair of life. (11/1 -- Mingus, b; Dannie Richmond, d; James Knepper, tbn; Booker Ervin, John Handy, Benny Golson, sax; Jerome Richardson, sax and flt; Roland Hanna, p; Theodore Cohen, vib; Dick Williams, tpt. 11/13 -- same as above but with Donald Ellis, tpt; Maurice Brown, Seymour Barab, cel. and minus Golson, Richardson, Cohen and Williams.)
The fact that Mingus kept rehearsals to a minimum gave performances such as these an unbridled looseness that still sounds well-kept and put together. Nor are the sociopolitical underpinnings of this music ever distant or abstract; and of course they remain relevant 35 years later.
"Slop" continues the tale of "Better Git It In Your Soul," which had been recorded six months earlier. The theme of the earlier track remains intact, but solo spots take off in entirely new directions, Roland Hanna's piano takes on a more distinctly ragtime feel, and whoops of "Hallelujah!" and "Amen" fill the studio.
Explosive, dangerous and sexy, these nine tracks bubble with sensuousness and a kind of tempered violence. Here his fertile mind and imagination are in full swing. The textures are lush ("Song With Orange") and revolutionary ("Gunslinging Bird"), the music mirroring perfectly his volatile personality and countercultural mores. "Mood Indigo" is as sexy as it gets, swaying along through slowly roiling undercurrents that swing like no tomorrow. As Roy Eldridge once commented regarding Mingus' emotional involvement with his art, he gets "all the way down" into the music, never letting up, never allowing the half-baked onto the dinner table.
(Tracks: Slop / Diane / Song With Orange / Gunslinging Bird / Things Ain't What They Used To Be / Far Wells, Mill Valley / New Now, Know How / Mood Indigo / Put Me In That Dungeon. 45:44)
There is a legend, as reported in one of Mosaic's Mingus sets, about an encounter between Mingus and Yusef Lateef. Lateef had appeared for work at a swank gig dresssed in sandals and an African dashiki. Mingus, his legendary volatity in full stride, lunged at Lateef screaming at him for not wearing a suit and tie. Mingus was huge, but Lateef grabbed him by the arms and lifted him right into the air, saying simply, "Peace, brother. Peace." Certain portions of (2) could almost be an aural portrait of that story. Lateef's deep connection to Africa and to peace is displayed in the ankle bells and wooden flutes, the swelling choruses of The Sweet Inspirations (a gospel choir) and in Cecil McBee's far- away, repeating bass ostinatos of "A Long Time Ago." There is nothing but pure meditative peace here, deep, sweet, and moving.
Unfortunately, it seems that many of Lateef's Atlantic recordings tried to work the crossover market, presenting a few classic jazz tracks, a few pop covers, and a few of his more extravagant excursions. This Rhino reissue, which comprises two of Lateef's 1970 recordings on one disc, is no exception. "The Diverse..." is filled to the top with non-electric funk, harking to the then-rising popularity of Miles and Herbie Mann, but placing the organic sonorities of wood and metal out in front, rather than the rock-oriented electric booty of the day.
"Suite 16" is distinctly divided into two radically different modes. What was once side A consists of four electric bass and guitar-based funk tunes, plus Earl Klugh's mostly forgettable solo guitar cover of Lennon's "Michelle." The musical ideas are similar to those on "The Diverse..." but presented in a far more commercial format. The funk, the sexuality, and the roots come through for the most part, that is, when the scene doesn't devolve into shameless pandering to slow-dancing high school students. Record company execs seem to be walking all over Lateef here, taking all of the crunch out of his very talented tenor for commercial reasons. The cover of "When a Man Loves a Woman" is simple, unabashed kitsch.
In a completely different vein, side B consist of the much more respectable six-movement "Symphonic Blues Suite." Here the action moves from atonal string flurries to classic bebop to a sort of Africa-meets- Berlioz-meets-big band spy movie theme. It's all over the place, and proves quite a bit more interesting and moving than Side A. Lateef seems to be in artistic control here, proving to be a tremendous composer and a stunning oboist to boot. The suite is a multi-leveled, fully realized masterpiece which demonstrates his love for, and mastery of, many instruments, influences, and genres. The orchestra, the classic quartet, and the African savannah all get together to reflect on their commonalites and differences.
Rhino has done right by Lateef in producing these reissues, but from the standpoint of musical authenticity, it's a drag having to program out all the pablum just to get to the sweet meat between.
Personell: Lateef, ts, ss, flt, bamoo flt, Chinese globular flt, Chinese Buddhist flt, kulin tang, cymbals, tamboura, oboe, c-flt, bells, tambourine; Richard Tee, p; Cecil McBee, b; Chuck Rainey, el-b; Bernard Purdie, d; Ray Baretto, conga; The Sweet Inspirations, vcl; Roy Brooks, shofar, Chinese gong, Hugh Lawson, Indian bells; Selwart Clarke, Jess Tryon, vln; Alfred Brown, vla; Kermit Moore, cel; Joe Zawinul, p; Eric Gale, gt; Jimmy Johnson, d; Neal Boyar, vib; Earl Klugh, gt; Barry Harris, p; Robert Cunningham, b; Albert Heath, d; The Cologne Radio Orchestra. Rec. 5/69 and 1/70.
Tracks: Live Humble / A Long Time Ago / Eboness / Chandra / Buddy and Lou / Down in Atlanta / Nocturne / When a Man Loves a Woman / Michelle / Symphonic Blues Suite (Folia / Minuet / Blues / Passacaglia / Chorale / Blues / Blues, Coda). 63:08.
[Writers] [Birdhouse]