Customer Reviews:
 1964 July 5, 2007
Breeze (Glesga)
24 out of 24 found this review helpful
Another very welcome addition to Mingus' 1964 music, written for a European tour which went ahead for the most part without trumpeter Johnny Coles who took ill.The 1964 music is amongst the very best composed by Mingus(music containing elements of all eras in the idiom) and this cd offers a chance to hear the music as it was intended (with Coles' trumpet) in a concert which premiers the material at Cornell University a few weeks before the tour.The Great Concert cd, I think, is the best available recording from this tour(it features extended bop masterpiece Parkeriana, sadly not performed at Cornell), but this is a great companion to that disc.
Lost Masterpiece July 11, 2007
Alan Cross (UK)
20 out of 20 found this review helpful
A great Mingus band recorded at a performance in 1964 that was only recently discovered by his wife Sue and released by Blue Note to coincide with what would have been his 85th birthday.
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br /A double CD which swings like a band having a good time - one of the last recordings by Eric Dolphy and a memorable testament to how good jazz can sound live and well recorded.
A great find November 16, 2009
Nikica Gilic (Zagreb, Croatia)
It's a brilliant find; an early, previously practically forgotten outing of a classic Mingus bend (if you believe Gary Giddins who wrote the lovely liner notes)...
br /And it's a great band, playing beautifully.... It is probably not better than the famous Paris concert, it's true that "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" is a bit bellow the band's highs,
br /and there might be a few meandering moments in some of the longer tracks...
br /But, essentially, this is a Mingus festival, with Eric Dolphy, Cliford Jordan,Johnny Coles (one of Gil Evans' favorite trumpeters, they say...), Jaki Byard, Dannie Richmond... Each and every one of them capable of hot solos and brilliant interplay (and, yes, they prove it on these two CDs in abundance). Have you noticed how easily Mingus makes a quintet or a sextet sound as rich as an entire big band? Of course, he uses great players, but Mingus is one and only, one of the most inspiring band-leaders in jazz history. And, let's not forget, he's a brilliant bass player as well - you can hear him solo and working jubilantly with others.
br /This is essential for all the Mingus fans,
br /but all jazz fans will probably LOVE this.
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