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Charles Mingus Quintet plus Max Roach
Original Jazz Classics/ Universal; CD; Rs. 295
This album, recorded live in
1955, shows several facets of
Charles Mingus's greatness
and originality as a bassist,
bandleader, composer and arranger.
Max Roach, the greatest
jazz drummer since 1950,
is featured on two tracks
("Drums", co-composed by
Mingus and Roach, and "I'll
Remember April", a pop standard
beloved of jazz musicians).
Willie Jones is the drummer
on the other four tracks,
while Eddie Bert on trombone,
George Barrow on tenor
saxophone, and Mal Waldron
on piano make up the rest of
the band. As an arranger-composer,
Mingus was interested
in the palette of sounds he
used to paint a musical picture.
The fast-paced "Drums",
for example, is almost entirely
a drum solo in which Roach
varies the sounds to make a
percussion melody. Bert and
Borrow punctuate it with
phrases. Mingus too adds a
few bass phrases to the drum
melody towards the end.
A similar alternation between
trombone and sax notes
is heard at the beginning and
end of Gershwin's "A Foggy
Day", which features solo improvisations
by Borrow, Waldron,
Bert and Mingus after
Borrow leads on the theme.
Alternating phrases on
trombone and sax feature
again on the 13-minute rendition
of "I'll Remember
April", which starts with a
bass intro - Roach's backing
is outstanding. This is a
highly unusual interpretation
of the pop standard, on
which the theme itself is
improvised.
Solos on tenor sax and
piano precede a passage in
which first sax and then
trombone exchange phrases
with drums.
Drum and tenor sax solos
follow, and then sax and
trombone improvise together
before fading to a
false ending, the music then
growing loud before the final
fade.
Alternating loud and soft
phrases are used to get an
interesting effect on the
theme of "Lady Bird",
which also features a bass
intro and solos from all five
musicians.
Mingus's presence is felt
in the original arrangements
(the interplay between
trombone and tenor
sax or the use of soft and
loud phrases, for example)
and his equally original and
unusual compositions,
"Haitian Fight Song" and
"Love Chant".
Mingus was passionate
about his music, and this
album captures well his
passion and his original
musical ideas.
Donald Byrd: Byrd in Hand
Blue Note/ Virgin Records; CD; Rs. 295
With a warm tone and facility
in improvisation,
Donald Byrd was recognised
as a rising trumpet
star in the later 1950s.
In this 1959 album, one
of his earliest as a leader, he
is joined by Pepper Adams
on baritone saxophone,
Charlie Rouse on tenor sax,
Walter Davis Jr. on piano,
Sam Jones on bass and Art
Taylor on drums.
The opening track is a
pop standard, "Witchcraft".
The rest are original compositions
by Byrd (credited
with three numbers) and
Davis (who wrote the remaining
two). The album
thus serves to showcase
their talents as composers
besides exhibiting the sextet's
skills as musicians.
The music is set in the
then dominant hard bop
style, and for the most part
follows the set pattern of a
series of solo improvisations
on the various instruments
after the opening
theme. On most of the
numbers, Byrd (on the left)
and the saxophonists (on
the right) set up an interesting
interplay, with, for
instance, Byrd and Adams
playing alternating phrases
on the theme, or one of the
saxophonists (most often
Adams) following Byrd in
taking a solo.
Most of the tracks feature
solos by Byrd, Adams,
Rouse and Davis. Adams,
especially, has a beautiful
tone, and the striking contrast
of the deep notes of
his instrument with Byrd's
trumpet at the high end is a
consistent feature of the
music.
The fast-paced "Devil
Whip", one of the Byrd
compositions, packs plenty
of action into four minutes,
with an intro on which
Byrd and Adams alternate,
and short but blistering solos
by Byrd, Adams, Davis,
and Rouse following the
theme. The same soloists in
the same order are featured
on the brisk-paced "Bronze
Dance", composed by Davis,
which also has an intro by
him and Jones, and interestingly,
short solo phrases
by Taylor punctuating the
work of the soloists.
Another Byrd composition,
"The Injuns", again
fast, has Byrd and the saxophonists
alternating on the
theme and terrific accompaniment
by Taylor
throughout. Besides, the
usual suspects, the soloists
here include Taylor, on
whose drum solo accompanied
by a quiet Davis the
track fades out.All told, this
is a satisfying album with
exciting music delivered
with verve by highly accomplished
musicians.
JAZZEBEL
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