Jazz Icons II, Part 1

A few weeks ago, writing at length about a new CD of music by the Charles Mingus Sextet, I referred to a forthcoming DVD of that remarkable band on its '64 European tour. The disc is one of a set of eight in the second release of Jazz Icons DVDs. I am viewing and reporting to you about them as time allows.

Charles Mingus Live in '64 (Jazz Icons). It is a revelation to see this edition of the Mingus sextet at work during one of his happiest periods. Explosive temperament under wraps, the bassist is downright avuncular in three concerts with Eric Dolphy, trumpeter Johnny Coles, tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan, pianist Jaki Byard and drummer Dannie Richmond. Dolphy the incredible flutist (and saxophonist and bass clarinetist) was a primary source of Mingus's satisfaction, but far from the only one. This was a unit attuned and interlocked, every soloist in his creative prime, the band's power and responsiveness at a peak. Video (black and white) and audio quality are excellent. Direction and camera work provide plenty of intimate looks into the working relationships among the musicians, particularly the bond between Mingus and Richmond. All that we need to know about the depth of his admiration is expressed in Coles' gaze on Dolphy as the saxophonist solos.

The Brussels "Meditations On Integration" is a milestone performance. The one in Stockholm a few days earlier is not far behind. All eleven pieces on the DVD are at the highest level. "Take The 'A' Train" in Oslo nearly equals the intensity of that Belgium "Meditations." We witness a touching moment during a rehearsal. Mingus tells Dolphy that he will miss him when the band returns to the US and Dolphy remains in Europe. Mingus asks how Dolphy long he will stay. Probably a year or so, Dolphy says. Within weeks, he was dead in Germany following an episode of diabetic shock. Mingus went into depression. He recovered, and his career had further periods of distinction through the sixties and seventies, but he never again had a band, large or small, that reached the heights of this sextet.

Duke Ellington Live in '58 (Jazz Icons). This concert in Holland is typical of the Ellington band in the late fifties. Old hands like Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney and Ray Nance combine comfortably with relative newcomers -- Clark Terry, Paul Gonsalves, John Sanders. The repertoire is a survey of Ellingtonia. The exception is "My Funny Valentine," in which clarinetist Jimmy Hamilton and trombonist Quentin Jackson play the melody so beautifully that variations would be redundant. We get a romp through "Rockin' in Rhythm," an extended Sam Woodyard drum solo, Hodges sliding with implacability and the essence of swing in "All of Me" and "Things Ain't What They Used to Be," Ozzie Bailey's heartfelt vocals, a ten-minute medley of ten Ellington hits, and the amazing Nance singing, dancing, and playing cornet and violin with gusto. The capper is "Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue," with Gonsalves featured in the tenor sax interval that made him famous at Newport two years earlier. He is just as bluesy, although this time at not quite the same length or intensity.

Conducting from the piano or in front of the band, announcing or digging the soloists, Ellington is coolness itself, leaving the audience in no doubt that he does love them madly. The band members, as they usually did, alternate between looking bored (but hip) and amused. Sound is good. The director is occasionally asleep at the switch when shot changes would be appropriate, but, generally, we see what we're hearing. What we're hearing is the Ellington band on a very good night.

Next installment: The Sarah Vaughan and Dave Brubeck Jazz Icons DVDs.