Search - Charles Mingus :: Complete Town Hall Concert

Ellington, Goodman, and Stravinsky

M. Allen Greenbaum | California | 05/21/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is one strange album that is always interesting, even when the sounds don't quite make it. At worse, you'll be reminded of an overly enthusiastic high school marching band, with its blazing horns that don't seem to fit what the rest of what's being playing. Other times, the rambunctious horns give this a nice swinging big band sound, and Danny Richmond's drumming sounds big and wild--almost like Gene Krupa.It's a very Ellington-oriented album, though it's like Ellington ground up with Stravinsky: The instrumentation and orchestration often remind one of Ellington but the tempo shifts, the juxtaposition of phrases, and Mingus' indelible stamp give an almost psychedelic flavor to some of the proceedings. Other cuts are more conventional. The two parts of "Freedom," featuring Mingus' beautiful unique (and I think, beautiful) voice, are outstanding.This session is famous for Mingus' exiting the "workshop" in disgust, and Clark Terry's "In a Mellotone" bringing the musicians backstage again. However, you can't discern that from this recording. As good (and bad-but-interesting) as this is, I can't give it the same category as "Ah Um," "Oh Yeah," etc., but it deserves a much better reputation than most give it."

Review

Karlis Neihofere | USA | 07/16/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"most mingus fans don't like 'town hall concert'. they use words like 'unfocused' and 'rambling' and 'dull'. it does ramble, and it does lose focus sometimes, in the same way the best stories wander and explore little side-alleys on the way to the finish. why take the shortest route between two points? the compositions do lead in aimless directions. changing tempo at seemingly unnecessary times. the horns and strings are indeed 'out of sync' often. the uninitiated will think this is no better than a high school concert band. but the attraction, for me, is that the players fall out of time, and then are able to fall back in while i'm still digesting the oddities.it's a mainstay for me, but probably not a good choice for someone who's never heard mingus."

A bad night

Blues Bro | Lakewood, Colorado USA | 04/25/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"No matter what you do in life, we all know the feeling of having a 'bad day' or a 'bad night'. This was Mingus 'bad night'. Unfortunately, it was recorded and released. Tha band was not familiar with the material, and you can hear it here. There are good moments, specially when Dolphy and Clark Terry takes solos, but it is a difficult listen. Mingus fans need this of course, but if you want to listen to a good symponic Mingus go listen to 'Black Saint and sinner lady' and if you want a good live Mingus go get 'Mingus at Antibes'."