Charles Mingus Music

"Charles Mingus: Live in '64" is one of the strongest entries yet in Naxos' superb Jazz Icons DVD collection. The series features historical concert footage recorded by far-sighted European television stations of some of the biggest names in jazz history. Mingus--certainly one of the four or five most important jazz creators--is captured during his 1964 concert tour in Belgium, Norway and Sweden working with what was arguably his greatest band ever. Multi-reedman Eric Dolphy, tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan, trumpeter Johnny Coles, pianist Jaki Byard and drummer Dannie Richmond were intuitive and brilliant interpreters of Mingus' unique music, which synthesized blues, gospel, bop, New Orleans traditional and early '60s modernism. (Next to Mingus, Dolphy was the most important artist in this band, as well as the most adventurous, able to adapt to mainstream musical surroundings while seamlessly exploring his own radical directions.) Each musician was also flexible enough to meet the unique demands of their mercurial and unpredictable bandleader. Mingus preferred to communicate his compositions verbally rather than write them down, frequently changed their structure, tempo and duration (often during a performance), and granted a large measure of creative latitude to his band members in bringing his music to life. This approach contributed to the exhilarating, spontaneous quality of his concerts and recordings, and helped ensure that no two versions of the same tune ended up sounding quite the same. In fact, two of Mingus' seminal compositions--"So Long, Eric" and "Meditations on Integration"--are played multiple times on this DVD, yet each performance emerges as a distinct and original incarnation. Needless to say, Mingus and his band are in peak form throughout all three concerts, demonstrating a sustained level of emotion and improvisation that almost defies description. Equally fascinating is the rehearsal footage captured prior to the Stockholm concert, which shows Mingus shaping the overall contours of each tune while leaving plenty of room for creative interpretation. An added bonus is watching the musicians interact with one another as well as respond to Mingus' instructions. This is musical history in the making, a revelatory visual and audio document essential for anyone interested in the development of American's greatest indigenous art form. Amen.

Why bother with a DVD of Mingus from the sixties, in black and white? Especially when you have the best of his recorded legacy and have heard it a hundred times? A couple of reasons - firstly, Mr Mingus was a composer, conductor and musician of outstanding excellence whose working methods are best revealed visually at the moment of creation. Of many improvising artists, he is one of the most active and passionate in his methods exhorting, listening deeply, using eyes, hands and body to guide, and providing a model of powerful leadership.
The viewer is witness to a creative process which he sees evolving before his eyes and feels drawn in to it. The gap between performers and viewer seems small indeed. Secondly, those in his band, like those in the various bands of Duke Ellington, are all masters on their respective instrument, and to be a visual and aural witness to their interactions with Mr Mingus is in itself a lesson in musicianship. Mr Byard is a revelation. One small, observation: Mr Mingus appears to have feet as large as another great American, Michael Phelps!

!Wow

I hope the people that put out this rare dvd keeps them coming. Seeing Mingus and Dolphy together is awesome, and there is also rehearsals of the band performing on the dvd. !Please get this great footage and trust me, you will not be disappointed.

Great performances, fantastic musicians etc...
"Orange was the color of her dress, then blue silk" AMAZING cut....

IMO this is a must own

If you've ever been intrigued by the music of Charles Mingus, one of the greatest composers and innovators in the history of jazz, you owe it to yourself to get this DVD. I've already watched it 3 times, and will be enjoying it (and others in this Naxos series) for years to come. The footage, all from Mingus's European tour of 1964, includes a live concert and other performances made for European television. The three venues (Belgium, Norway, and Sweden) were filmed within a one week period. The camera work is quite good, and the quality of the film is certainly OK for its time. You get plenty for your money: the DVD is a full two hours long, much longer than most others in this series.

This group was arguably Mingus's best line-up ever, and the tour was easily one of the high-points in the great bassist's long and productive career. It's a real pleasure to watch this charismatic leader play and interact with his fellow musicians; he was clearly having fun and receiving satisfaction from what this remarkable band was producing. There's plenty of footage of the great Eric Dolphy--much more than on the John Coltrane Jazz Icons DVD. Clifford Jordan, Johnny Coles, Jaki Byard, and Dannie Richmond all play well and are fun to watch. One thing that seems especially notable about this group (besides the collection of talent) is that everyone has a somewhat different style, yet the conglomeration results in some of the most interesting (and complex) jazz music every created by a small group.

Although one might wish for a greater variety of compositions (there are a total of 6), the DVD apparently does include most of the songs the group was playing on this tour. There are 4 different versions of "So Long Eric" and 3 of "Meditations on Integration," but these are performed quite differently and it's interesting to hear the varied arrangements and improvising from venue to venue. In summary: Exhilarating !

What do you get your friend who already has everything, and who was a professional musician to boot, and who has been a serious jazz student for the last ten years? I saw a TV review raving about this set, sent it to him, and he loves it; apparently, being able to see the techniques of the jazz masters, as well as listening to them, is a major plus.

Some were recorded by film cameras and the others by TV cameras. But the quality of pictures are very beautiful and the quality of sound is also unbelievably good thinkinng of the thecnical conditions of the era.
We should thank the people who kept the great arts for so long a time.
At first I didn't expect I can enjoy JAZZ of 60s as if I were at the concert. So I am keeping the DVDs as my treasure. I'd like to say again THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Very important video in Europe concert by the famous artist in Jazz. More unknow video track. Very interesting. I wait for a new series that will be available in September.

Jazz Icons, Vol. 2 (8 DVD Box Set featuring Bonus Disc)
A fantastic compilation; would recommend to any jazz fan or historian.

Fantastic! A gold mine. Great, great music wonderfully clean and bright (these are from the 50s, afterall) with fabulous footage. You can not go wrong if you love jazz. It's like going to a concert in your own home.

Certainly when someone thinks of Mingus' top 5 or even top 10 albums, this one is not likely to come up very often. However, I am completely blown away with the genius arrangement of these works, as well as the ingeniuity and creativity of all the solos on this album. I realize that the band played particular arrangements composed by Mingus throughout parts of the album, however I believe the solos are for the most part spontaneous. This in itself is truly incredible when you listen to the solos by the horns, (as well as Mingus on both bass and piano), and they seem so logical that you literally swear they must have been pre-conceived! It honestly seems like every note played by the soloist's was supposed to be there.. no more, no less required. The interplay and harmonics between the horns and other instruments is completely priceless and reveals much more each time it is listened to. I owned a poorer quality bootleg of this album (intrusions) and I am certainly glad I picked this up. The remastering is done well and is much clearer. The highlights of this album are tracks 1,3,5,6,7. Tracks 2 and 4 are interesting enough, with the former being led by Thad Jones' excellent trumpet work, and the latter by A cello part. Track 4 is my least favorite due to the cello. Tracks 1,6, and 7 are great tunes that swing hard and can be appreciated by nearly any jazz fan. Tracks 3 and 5 are a bit more abstract and require careful listening to dissect the genius melodic interplay occuring between the horns. If you don't hear it at first, listen again, it's there, trust me, and it makes real musical sense!! Hands down my favorite of the Mingus albums I own thus far.

Although there is very little footage of Eric Dolphy (ED) in this informative documentry,the film still manages to capture the essence of this beautiful brother. It seems that ED knew what he wanted to do at a early age. His level of commitment is truely endearing, as this is conveyed through interviews (early in the film) with relatives, music instructors, and acquaintences. ED could have given up his pursuits of a musical quest because as teenage he had applied to play with the L.A.Symphony, but was turned down do his "color". Fortunately for us ED persevere, and continued pursuits musical creativety. This a beautiful film about a beautiful individual. Truely one of the great jazz gaints, whose career was cut to short in part by a miss diagnosis hypoglycemia.