JAZZ SPOTLIGHT : Great Talent Rises to the Top

CHARLES MINGUS

“The Complete Town Hall Concert”

Blue Note Records

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As with so much that was associated with Charles Mingus, this recording chronicles one of the most confused and erratic performances of his often confused and erratic career. Originally intended as a big band (30 players) album recorded live before an audience, it gradually deteriorated into a painful sequence of false starts, technical disarray and musical uncertainty.

Then why the four stars?

Because despite the problems (many of which were carefully noted in the negative press reviews that appeared at the time) there are occasions when the playing explodes with the utterly unique creative energy that was characteristic of almost everything Mingus ever did. Equally important, and perhaps sadly so, the album--with a roster of players that includes Eric Dolphy, Clark Terry, Charles McPherson, Charlie Mariano, Zoot Sims and Jerome Richardson--is a powerful reminder of the remarkably varied currents that were coursing through jazz in 1962.

Very few pieces work well in their totality; the recording engineers made sure of that. And, except for some typically fascinating textures, there are better examples of Mingus’ compositional skills elsewhere. But the choice individual moments are more than worth the price of admission: Mingus’ eccentric brass scoring on “Please Don’t Come Back From the Moon”; Jaki Byard’s piano and Sims’ tenor on the same piece; Mingus’ virtuosic bass solo on “My Search”; gorgeous alto choruses by McPherson and Mariano, also on the same number; a mesmerizing alto saxophone-bass dialogue between Dolphy and Mingus on “Epitaph, Part I,” a roaring collective improvisation by the orchestra on “Epitaph, Part II”; Mariano’s passionate alto solo on “My Search.”

And so on, to name only a few. It may not be Mingus at his best, but it’s a superb illustration of how great talent can manage to prevail against all odds.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four (excellent).