#jack walrath

[jazzplusplus]

1976 - Charles Mingus and his Quintet - Freiburg

Charles Mingus (b), Ricky Ford (ts), Jack Walrath (tp), Danny Mixon (p), Dannie Richmond (dr)

[dustedmagazine]

Charles Mingus — At Bremen 1964 and 1975 (Sunnyside)

Charles Mingus @ Bremen 1964 & 1975 by Charles Mingus

Any release of Charles Mingus material should raise a holler, and this two-concert four-disc set is no exception. We have the famous, or, as Bret Sjerven’s notes describe, infamous 1964 Bremen sextet concert complemented by Mingus’ next visit to that port city more than a decade later with only Danny Richmond appearing on both dates. Apart from “Fables of Faubus,” there’s no overlap in the set lists, and the playing itself demonstrates remarkable diversity. Best of all though, and somewhat ironic, is a unity of approach, not in the solos’ syntax but in the epic historical sweep that is the composer’s prerogative and the band’s emotive platform.

The Mingus sextet comprising the composer, pianist Jaki Byard, reedsmen Clifford Jordan and Eric Dolphy, trumpeter Johnny Coles and the afore-mentioned Richmond, really needs no introduction here. Conventional wisdom has it that it’s one of the most accomplished, swinging and air-tight units of the time, which is certainly true but not necessarily in comparison to the 1975 quintet, which had pianist Don Pullen, trumpeter Jack Walrath and George Adams on tenor. A comparison of “Fables of Faubus”’s two traversals will tell a large part of the story. Suffice it to say that the sextet’s on fire during the April 16, 1964 concert in a version that more than doubles the length of the 1975 rendering. In 1975, the nasty grooves and funky breaks are brought in abundance as the multivalent romp has sped up and often drives harder than its 1964 counterpart. Like “So What” from Miles Davis Plug Nickel sessions of 1965, a completely different feel never quite masks original intent as Walrath and Adams maintain the expected radical theatrics by incorporating seamless quotations into solos of staggering invention. The thorny planes of metrically diverse ensemble interaction are somewhat tamed in 1975, and band dropouts during solos have all but disappeared. For that earlier effect as the sextet digs in, listen to Coles and Mingus dialogue as all else recedes or Byard as he ratchets up the humor in his allusive solo. Preconceived notions of temporal and historical relativity don’t even begin to get at the group dynamics here, collective or otherwise, as Mingus alludes to his own songbook at strategic moments or leads the ensemble slowly back in after a solo of extraordinary emotional power and virtuosity. The various solo vocabularies magnify the eleven-year difference. Compared to the vibrato-heavy and supercharged Walrath solo in 1975, Coles is cool, never quite aloof but just that little tantalizing bit behind the beat. Dolphy’s bass clarinet has never been better represented on disc as he revels in multi-phonics and those wonderfully dangerous leaps he perfected. By contrast, 11 years later, Adams keeps the fire burning at a higher pitch, as does the rest of the ensemble in a version whose political citations are clearly as current as the music itself.  

The 1964 concert has previously been released in inferior sound, though it was obviously recorded for broadcast; luckily, vast improvements have been made for this issue. Just listen to the opening of “Fables of Faubus” to gauge the new restoration’s success. Byard’s chords are no longer the muddle they were on previous issues, filling in the harmony while syncopating with his usual historically clear-eyed voicings. We are even offered the opening notes of the Fats Waller/Art Tatum tribute, missing from other versions. Each instrument is as clear and immediate as the room is ambient, which is fortunate, as there’s plenty going on in every moment. The ensemble and solo passages, not to mention the way they can blur, will be terra firma to Mingus devotees, but to say that each solo is epic is to justify a cliché. Dig Jordan ramping up the rhetoric as his solo on “Hope So Eric” slowly catches fire, first dragging and then propelling what we can only loosely call the beat, Mingus and Richmond somehow perfectly locked in behind it all. If band dropouts are the order of the day, look no further than the wistfully loping, rushing and roaring but pleasantly perfumed “Sue’s Changes.” Pullen and Adams just tear it all up, there’s no other way to describe the energy, sweep and scale—pun intended—guiding their burning through the vast histories this music encapsulates. Notions of range, chops and even pitch slide toward the backburner, sweeping preconception away in torrents of the freedom Mingus always sought, often achieved but rarely felt.

Solo and interaction stand at a kind of microcosmic crossroads, holding a mirror up to an evolving ensemble whose approach to the false boundaries separating improvisation and composition also elucidates the point at which teleology is thwarted in favor of a more cyclic progress. What’s behind the music, that unique blend of emotion and experience that any Mingus group manifests, is what shines through each note. Once again, Sunnyside must be congratulated on making prime Mingus available and for facilitating such an incredible aural experience.

Marc Medwin

[rogerdelgado]

Jazz of the Week, Vol. 1, No. 1

I wanted to do something like this for a while now, but life being what it is I always found excuses. Jazz is very important to me. Many of my friends think it’s funny. (I even have a few who think it’s impossible to enjoy jazz, but here we are.) 

My plan is to present a weekly jazz track that does something for me. Maybe it will be topical, maybe it’s just something I’m feeling on a personal level. The point is for me to do it. It’s essentially a jazz journal, because I am unable to keep a journal about myself.

I made no resolutions for 2021. Survival seems like an adequate resolution at this point. However, I kept putting this idea away until the new year began. Now I have no excuses. 

Trying to choose which track to begin this journey is a battle I’ve had in the back of my mind for two weeks now. At first I wanted it to be something that looked forward with hope and inspiration for the new year. I wanted something bright and catchy and full of light. I had a few ideas, but nothing really grabbed me.

Then yesterday happened and I knew where I had to go.

Charles Mingus was a complex man and one of jazz’s legendary bassists and composers. He wrote the music for “Free Cell Block F, ‘Tis Nazi U.S.A.” long before he gave it that title and the two could not be further apart in terms of imagery and themes. 

The tune bounces breezily along without a care in the world, while the title evokes the darkest of times and a rallying cry against oppression and evil. The inspiration for the title came from an article Mingus read in Ebony magazine about a prison in the south preparing for electrocutions. Mingus thought that titles should sometimes speak for themselves and this track kicked off one of his last great studio albums Changes Two from 1975.

Is this song important on its own? Not really, but the title is as relevant as ever. So is the dichotomy of a bright and bubbly thing with a grim and revealing name. We live in a world now where the book does not match the cover and it’s important that we recognize it. 

In the end, I got my snappy tune after all, but it’s only light and lovely if you don’t look at it too closely. Just like America today.

Keep your eyes, ears and hearts open. Peace.

Personnel:

Charles Mingus, bass

George Adams, tenor sax

Jack Walrath, trumpet

Don Pullen, piano

Dannie Richmond, drums

[gottahavesoul]

Charles Mingus - Duke Ellington's Sound of Love (Changes One, 1974)

Charles Mingus (bass); George Adams ( tenor saxophone); Jack Walrath (trumpet); Don Pullen (piano); Dannie Richmond (drums)

[jacobwren]

Jack Walrath & The Masters Of Suspense - Blues Sinistra

[dearestfreshness]

There's no greater love story throughout any or all literature printed secular, sacred, musical or nonmusical there isn't a greater love story that the story of the bebop scale Now the blues dramatically teaches of the power of love and the power of patience and the strong, long suffering and blues' concern about humanity, self-love, and the selfishness of survival the blues as a redeemer of millions cradled at the riverside seated at the feet of elders to learn the story [of the strength] and blues, knowing the danger of self-indulgence in the personification of the funk

“Blues Sinistra”, Jack Walrath & The Mastes Of Suspence

[aural-art-blog]

Charles Mingus - Devil's Blues Live in Motreux '75

If this is really the devil's blues I'll become satanist!

Charles Mingus, b

Don Pullen, voc & ts

George Adams, p

Jack Walrath, tr

Dannie Richmond, dr