Jazz Icons: Charles Mingus Live in '64
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Charles Mingus, Clifford Jordan, Dannie Richmond, Eric Dolphy, Jaki ByardBrand: Naxos OF America INC
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Best of, Black & White, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 120 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-09-04
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Jazz Icons
Movie Reviews of Jazz Icons: Charles Mingus Live in '64
Movie Review: The best jazz band ever during their historical tour
Summary: 5 Stars
Charles Mingus believed that jazz had lost something essential in the interplay between soloist and ensemble after the development of bebop, so his sextet work was focused on bringing back that kind of interplay in a modern idiom. The band on this DVD, Dolphy, Clifford Jordan, Byard, Johnny Coles sextet and the ubiquitous Richmond was the best small group in jazz ever IMO. Hands down better than the overrated second Miles Davis Quintet. The interplay between the players in the sextet is nothing short of incredible - they never leave the stage - always ready for either arranged or improvised ensemble passages in a number. They are a band - a unit - not a collection of soloists. A member of the rhythm section laying out isn't really an arrangement - these guys understand band interplay on an exalted level few have achieved.
Mingus was an excellent arranger and composer, as well as leading his band on stage in improvised arrangements, and encouraging his band to improvise ensemble passages during solos. There are several instances on the video when you can see two of the horn players catch each other's eye while another is soloing and devise a supporting lick then play it behind the soloist. During the long, and carefully arranged, "Meditations On Integration" Mingus places objects in Byard's piano for some improvised prepared piano and Byard doesn't miss a beat. During a scorching Dolphy solo Mingus sings a lick for Dolphy to include in his solo, then Jordan and Coles pick it up and use it in a lick for ensemble support behind Dolphy. What other band could do things like that? There's some true esp in this band.
When a soloist is hot Mingus will cut out the band to allow him full expression, as he does for Jordan during his solo on "Take the A Train" - Mingus is so excited he stomps his feet as he gives Jordan the floor to preach from his pulpit. While soloing the band keeps an eye on each other, and on Mingus, as Mingus allows for moments of elasticity. It's difficult to hear the exact words, but before the band breaks into "Parkerania" you can hear them discussing how many chorus's each will take - Mingus says something like, let's say 5 cause if we say 8 we'll take 10." "Parkerania" doesn't seem to be gelling like it could - so Mingus stops the band in the middle of a Coles solo, stomps out a beat, and they light into "A Train," playing some of the best solos on the whole DVD.
This video is an education in how a small group can become an integrated unit, how modern jazz can effectively use interplay of the ensemble and soloist as in traditional jazz - and do so either prearranged and on the fly - and in the effectiveness of band members staying on stage together to allow for a kind of interplay unattainable otherwise. Furthermore, it shows that a band doesn't need to be made up of stars in order to achieve a rarefied state of excellence.
Summary of Jazz Icons: Charles Mingus Live in '64
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