jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
composer and
bassist
A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...
, released in 1973.
The music
''Mingus Moves'' (Atlantic SD 1653) is one of the late works of American jazz bassist, composer, and bandleader
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...
. He hired three new musicians for the recording:
Don Pullen
Don Gabriel Pullen (December 25, 1941 – April 22, 1995) was an American jazz pianist and organist. Pullen developed a strikingly individual style throughout his career. He composed pieces ranging from blues to bebop and modern jazz. The great ...
on piano; Ronald Hampton on trumpet, and George Adams on tenor saxophone. Drummer
Dannie Richmond
Charles Daniel Richmond (December 15, 1931 – March 16, 1988) was an American jazz drummer who is best known for his work with Charles Mingus. He also worked with Joe Cocker, Elton John and Mark-Almond.
Biography
Richmond was born Charles ...
, a stalwart of Mingus's bands in the 1950s and '60s, rejoined the band on the first day of recording after not working with the bassist for several years.
The album, although not generally regarded as one of Mingus's best, does feature three remarkable compositions: "Canon", "Opus 3", and "Opus 4". "Canon" is a theme, as the title suggests, that can be superimposed upon itself. The song has a spiritual character, à la Coltrane, and is played with a warm sound by Pullen and Adams. This tune was also released on Hal Willner's tribute CD: ''Weird Nightmare - Meditations on Mingus''. "Opus 3" is based on the Mingus's 1957 composition "
Pithecanthropus Erectus
Java Man (''Homo erectus erectus'', formerly also ''Anthropopithecus erectus'', ''Pithecanthropus erectus'') is an early human fossil discovered in 1891 and 1892 on the island of Java (Dutch East Indies, now part of Indonesia). Estimated to be ...
", in which certain sections are played without key or meter restrictions. "Opus 4" is a straight-ahead swinger that features Don Pullen playing a free solo part.
The other tunes include "Moves", a composition written and sung (along with
Honi Gordon
Honi Gordon (sometimes Honey Gordon) was a jazz vocalist.
Career
Honi Gordon sang as a member of the Gordons (with her father and two brothers) in the early 1950s.Henderson, Ale"Honi Gordon" AllMusic. Retrieved June 4, 2017. Her first recordings, ...
) by
Doug Hammond
Doug Hammond (born December 26, 1942) is an American free funk/avant-garde jazz drummer, composer, poet, producer, and professor. His first major release was ''Reflections in the Sea of Nurnen'' on Tribe Records in 1975.
Career
He has worked w ...
, Richmond's predecessor; "Wee", composed and arranged by
Sy Johnson
Sivert Bertil Johnson Jr. (April 15, 1930 – July 26, 2022) was an American jazz composer, arranger and pianist who worked with Charles Mingus in the 1960s and 1970s. He also worked with the Lee Konitz Nonet, among others. His work with Mingus ...
, who also worked with Mingus on ''
Let My Children Hear Music
''Let My Children Hear Music'' is an album released by Columbia Records in 1972 of music by composer Charles Mingus, produced by Teo Macero. The music is scored for large jazz orchestra and Mingus worked with several arrangers, orchestrators and c ...
'' (1971) and ''
Charles Mingus and Friends in Concert
''Charles Mingus and Friends in Concert'' is a live album by the jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus, recorded at the Philharmonic Hall of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1972 and released on the Columbia label.
Track listing
(All compositions by Mingus except where noted.)
#"Canon" – 5:28
#"Opus 4" – 6:39
#"Moves" (
Doug Hammond
Doug Hammond (born December 26, 1942) is an American free funk/avant-garde jazz drummer, composer, poet, producer, and professor. His first major release was ''Reflections in the Sea of Nurnen'' on Tribe Records in 1975.
Career
He has worked w ...
) – 3:43
#"Wee" (
Sy Johnson
Sivert Bertil Johnson Jr. (April 15, 1930 – July 26, 2022) was an American jazz composer, arranger and pianist who worked with Charles Mingus in the 1960s and 1970s. He also worked with the Lee Konitz Nonet, among others. His work with Mingus ...
) – 8:57
#"Flowers for a Lady" ( George Adams)– 6:44
#"Newcomer" (
Don Pullen
Don Gabriel Pullen (December 25, 1941 – April 22, 1995) was an American jazz pianist and organist. Pullen developed a strikingly individual style throughout his career. He composed pieces ranging from blues to bebop and modern jazz. The great ...
) – 7:13
#"Opus 3" – 10:26
#"Big Alice" (
Don Pullen
Don Gabriel Pullen (December 25, 1941 – April 22, 1995) was an American jazz pianist and organist. Pullen developed a strikingly individual style throughout his career. He composed pieces ranging from blues to bebop and modern jazz. The great ...
) – 5:44 (bonus track)
#"The Call" – 7:13 (later credited Ronald Hampton as writer)
Personnel
* Ronald Hampton - Trumpet
*
Doug Hammond
Doug Hammond (born December 26, 1942) is an American free funk/avant-garde jazz drummer, composer, poet, producer, and professor. His first major release was ''Reflections in the Sea of Nurnen'' on Tribe Records in 1975.
Career
He has worked w ...
– Vocals
*
Honi Gordon
Honi Gordon (sometimes Honey Gordon) was a jazz vocalist.
Career
Honi Gordon sang as a member of the Gordons (with her father and two brothers) in the early 1950s.Henderson, Ale"Honi Gordon" AllMusic. Retrieved June 4, 2017. Her first recordings, ...
Dannie Richmond
Charles Daniel Richmond (December 15, 1931 – March 16, 1988) was an American jazz drummer who is best known for his work with Charles Mingus. He also worked with Joe Cocker, Elton John and Mark-Almond.
Biography
Richmond was born Charles ...
- Drums
*
Don Pullen
Don Gabriel Pullen (December 25, 1941 – April 22, 1995) was an American jazz pianist and organist. Pullen developed a strikingly individual style throughout his career. He composed pieces ranging from blues to bebop and modern jazz. The great ...
- Piano
*
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...
– Bass
References
External links
*
Nat Hentoff
Nathan Irving Hentoff (June 10, 1925 – January 7, 2017) was an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media. Hentoff was a columnist for ''The Village Voice'' from 1958 to 2009. Fol ...