A Vivid Overview of the Work of Mingus

A Baptist congregation unabashedly responding to the minister’s exultations, the running of the bulls at Pamplona, the delicate sighs of lovers, the solemnity of a prayer--these are some of the scenes suggested by the music of Charles Mingus.

“Thirteen Pictures: The Charles Mingus Anthology,” recently released on Rhino/Atlantic Jazz Gallery Records, gives a vivid overview of the work of Mingus, the acclaimed bassist-composer- bandleader who died of Lou Gehrig’s disease in 1979 at age 57.

The 13-track, two-CD set includes some of the artist’s most arresting pieces. Among the provocative and inspiring cuts, which were recorded between 1952 and 1978, are the original 1959 version of “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” the exhilarating “Better Git It in Your Soul,” the 22-minute “Meditations on Integration,” recorded at the 1964 Monterey Jazz Festival, and the symphonic-like “Half-Mast Inhibition.”

What’s interesting is that this baker’s dozen is drawn from six different labels: Atlantic, Columbia, Epic/Mercury, Debut, United Artists and Impulse! Cross-licensing--the obtaining of material from a variety of labels and presenting it in a single reissue package--has long been a trademark of Rhino reissue sets. Producer Joel Dorn, who oversaw the Mingus set with Hal Willner, feels that sometimes cross-licensing gives the public a better idea of an artist’s career.

“It can give you a sense of perspective, instead of looking at what they did on one label, in this case Atlantic,” said Dorn, who has produced Rhino sets on Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Les McCann, Eddie Harris and many more.

Another example of cross-licensing is the recently released “Relationships,” a 21-track, two-CD set that offers material by McCann culled from five labels, including 11 cuts from the pianist-singer’s early years, documented on Pacific Jazz Records.

In contrast, the two-CD set by multi-reedman Kirk, “Does Your House Have Lions,” features 31 tracks, all taken from his 1965- 1976 period at Atlantic, and all produced by Dorn. “I can’t be totally objective here; after all, I produced all these tracks,” said Dorn. “But I feel that Rahsaan was most fulfilled when he was at Atlantic, and that he had a long, pleasant plateau when he was in complete control of what he was recording.”

The next major reissue in the Rhino/Atlantic jazz gallery line will be a six-CD set of Ornette Coleman’s work scheduled for mid-November release.

The Mingus, McCann and Kirk reissue sets are each priced at $29.98.

Update on Drew: The third annual Jazz at Drew fund-raising festival, held over two weekends earlier this month on the campus of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, may make a profit for the first time, according to Roland Betts, the University’s Director of the Office of Special Events and the festival’s executive producer.

“We’re counting the receipts now and we appear to have broken even at the gate, but a film that we shot to be sold to television may put us over the top,” Betts said.

The film, produced by Northstar Entertainment Group, is still in the editing stages. It focused on the performances of such festival stars as George Duke, Cedar Walton and Keiko Matsui. “We’re projecting it will sell in Europe, Japan and here in the U.S.,” Betts said.

Jazz at Drew will be back again next year, said Betts, but with some changes. “We’ll probably book more popular-based acts, perhaps shorten the duration of some of the shows and lower some of the ticket prices to make it more affordable for people from South-Central Los Angeles,” Betts said.