Since there's been 1 Mingus related thread here this week, jonylawson's joni mitchell-mingus, figured i'd set a record and make it 2 in 1 week.





Here's an excerpt from an article in the June issue of JazzTimes:

It was nearly three decades ago that the legendary bassist-composer-bandleader Charles Mingus died from a heart attack after a long battle with the terminal nerve illness amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. A larger-than-life fugure and world-class curmudgeon with a well-documented volcanic temper, Mingus had spent the last year of his life in a wheelchair, unable to use his legs or hands. He spent his final months seeking a miracle cure in Mexico, under the guidance of a prominent 72-year-old Indian witch doctor and healer named Pachita, before finally submitting to the dreaded disease. Jazz's Angry Man passed away on the afternoon of Jan. 5, 1979, at the age of 56. The following day, his body was cremated on the outskirts of Mexico City, and a week later his widow Sue Mingus traveled to India to scatter his ashes on the sacred Ganges River.

While Mingus may have left this earthly plane a long time ago, his legacy continues to grow, thanks to the tireless efforts of Sue Mingus. In the decades since her husband's death, she has managed to shepherd three separate bands--the Mingus Big Band, which maintains a weekly Tuesday-night residency at the Iridium nightclub in New York, along with the Mingus Dynasty septet and the 11-piece Mingus Orchestra--while also scheduling tours, producing concerts, maintaining a Web site (mingusmingusmingus.com) and presiding over reissues and other special projects relating to the work of her late husband.

In what would've been his 85th year, there is a sudden flurry of Mingus-related activity. In July, Blue Note Records will release a live two-CD set documenting a never-before-heard Mingus concert from March 18, 1964, at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., with his sextet featuring Eric Dolphy, Johnny Coles, Clifford Jordan, Dannie Richmond and Jaki Byard. Producer Michael Cuscuna calls it "a joyous, rollicking performance where they're having a great time ... like a drunken frat-party thing where they just let go and play their asses off."


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Most significant in theis flood of Mingus activity is the remounting of his monumental symphonic work Epitaph, which had its gala world premiere on June 3, 1989 at the prestigious Avery Fisher Hall in New York City. "It's been nearly 18 years since it was last performed in the States," says Sue Mingus of her husband's 2 1/2-hour suite in 19 movements for 31 musicians. "A whole generation of jazz fans has not heard it."

And no one has ever heard it in its present state. This latest incarnation of Epitaph, conducted by Gunther Schuller and featuring Christian McBride in the Mingus chair, is the most complete version of Mingus' provocative masterwork to date, containing a missing piece of music that was discovered through a combination of coincidence and detective work.


www.jazztimes.com
http://www.bluenote.com/n...NewsID=444
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tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Interesting stuff. I have the original recording of 'Epitaph', and am just beginning to explore it, so I am both pleased and slightly put out that a new 'revised, expanded' version is on the way .

The original 'Epitaph' is a live recording from 1989, with slightly weak sound imo, but the music is strong and the performances are good, if perhaps not as characterful and 'driven' as they might have been under maestro Mingus' powerful baton.

The music is a kind of compilation or suite of matieral from throughout the man's career, from '40s era stuff like 'Chill of Death' to some stuff original to the 'Epitaph', I think. It seems it was meant to be his masterwork, but he never quite got to completing it to his satisfaction. 'Epitaph' is best compared to the extended suites of Duke Ellington, but more experimental than most of those.

It is worth hearing.

...


I have to grab that issue....

I've never heard Epitaph in any form...I must investigate...Thanks!!!!!





...

Miles said:

His first attempt at performing at least part of this piece live was the...



...Town Hall Concert (1962) and was seriously panned.


You get a clear sense of the extreme disarray during the...



...Triumph of the Underdog documentary.


I am looking forward to hearing this Blue Note release.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

can't wait to get this, take it home, turn off all the lights and lay
on the floor with this banging into my ears



it's like the promise of a dozen prince outtakes in pristine remaster
quality. yet better. much much better.



i was reading in "beneath the underdog" yesterday, coïncidentally

paligap said:

Me, too...and me neither!

Thanks for the heads-up, tA!!!

cool thread-we must be the secret mingus clique!

jonylawson said:

Passwords are on the way.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

magnificentsynthesizer said:

You definitely get one (along with a "Sonny" pass)...


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

Hey, i think we both have our International Funk Card.

Anybody remember that crazy album that Mingus put out with "Eat That Chicken?" I'm not home right now so I can't remember the title---or why I got it at the time! We know that he did enjoy himself though!

Oh, because I'm a visual person, too, I gotta comment on the fab picture of Mingus in the original post!