Sunnyside
's four-disc
Charles Mingus @ Bremen 1964 & 1975
contrasts two complete performances by two of the leader's finest bands. The lineup in Radio Bremen's Studio on April 16, 1964, included trumpeter
Johnny Coles
(in his final full performance with the band), firebrand alto saxophonist/bass clarinetist
Eric Dolphy
, tenor saxist
Clifford Jordan
, pianist
Jaki Byard
, and drummer
Dannie Richmond
. This show introduced Germany to
Mingus
' mercurial temperament as well as his bold modern jazz conception that embraced
Ellington
ian swing, bop, hard bop, third stream, and the new thing, and created deliberate tensions between them.
Opener "Hope So Eric" (aka "So Long Eric") is a nearly half-hour-long rowdy case in point. Its title reflects
Dolphy
's intention to remain in Europe after the tour -- ironically, he would die there only two months later from a mistreated diabetic episode. Its first half features
Coles
' deep blue solo that underscores his central role among the horns.
Byard
answers with blocky swing, introducing
Jordan
's hard-grooving tenor break.
offers an inquisitive bass solo before
startles with raw, angular, hard-bop blues. "Fables of Faubus" is half an hour of wily, searing modern jazz; each member was given carte blanche to express everything from wit to rage -- and did.
moves through the entire history of stride and ragtime piano on his "Piano Solo" (aka "ATFW") before
delivers a resonant bass solo on "Sophisticated Lady." The sprawl of "Parkeriana" finds the band paying a joyous tribute to
Charlie Parker
with finger-popping swing amid free developments introduced by
and
. "Meditations on Integration" is a provocative set closer; its meandering charts and dialogic solos render its lyric statements poignant. Further,
' arco solo evokes
Stravinsky
.
The 1975 quintet included
Richmond
Don Pullen
, trumpeter
Jack Walrath
, and tenor saxophonist
George Adams
, the group
assembled after emerging from semi-retirement in 1972. Their playing is revelatory throughout a program derived primarily from
' late classics,
Changes One
Changes Two
. The 33-minute opener "Sue's Changes" offers the band's astounding range in a suite-like composition that reflects the line where
' bold harmonic conception is framed in funky, mutant blues, elegant balladry, fluid swing, and out jazz with wonderful solos from
Walrath
,
Adams
, and
Pullen
. The bassist's love of Afro-Latin jazz and avant-blues pours from "For Harry Carney," while set closer "Fables of Faubus" juxtaposes harmonically strident funk guided by
' rumbling pizzicato playing. The nearly 40-minute encore begins with a gloriously long "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love," which ends with the band sprinting through "Cherokee" with bebop abandon. They return to rhythmic invention on the wooly "Remember Rockefeller at Attica" before concluding with the raucous "Devil Blues," featuring incendiary soloing from
. Both shows are presented in excellent audio. A decade apart, they offer an insightful and rounded musical portrait of
as the bridge between jazz's history to that point, its unfolding present, and its only-just-glimpsed future. Essential. ~ Thom Jurek