Mingus at Antibes [Live]

Mingus at Antibes [Live]

Mingus at Antibes [Live]

ASIN: B000008BRQ

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
The fleet group that Charles Mingus brought to the Antibes jazz festival in 1960 was likely the most powerful group, pound-for-pound, that the bassist ever led. The front line was comprised of trumpeter Ted Curson, alto saxophonist Eric Dolphy, and, for this stint, tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin. Without a piano for most of this Antibes concert, the band relied on a combustion that Mingus created with his antiphonal compositions and a gospel bent. Dolphy, Curson, and Ervin sound jubilant on "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting" and then full of longing on "Prayer for Passive Resistance." But it's on "Folk Forms I" that you hear how much leap the group has without a formal harmonic anchor. Mingus chugs along, using his lowest-end bustle as a backbone for rhythmic variations across the top. As usual, drummer Dannie Richmond cracks the percussion with speed-shifting exactness. As if that all weren't enough, one of bebop's quirkier architects, Bud Powell, joins the band for a touching read of "I'll Remember April." --Andrew Bartlett

Mingus at Antibes,Charles Mingus,Atlantic / Wea,Avant-Garde,Avant-Garde Jazz,Jazz,Jazz Music,Pop,Post-Bop,United States of America
Live in Tokyo at the Blue Note
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Can't go wrong with the tunes or the group
  • Outstanding!
Live in Tokyo at the Blue Note
Mingus Big Band
Manufacturer: Sunny Side
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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  1. At UCLA 1965
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ASIN: B000HIVQIA
Release Date: 2006-09-26

Tracks:

  1. Wham Bam
  2. Opus Four
  3. Celia
  4. Bird Calls
  5. Meditations
  6. Prayer For Passive Resistance
  7. Free Cell Block F
  8. Ecclusiastics

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Can't go wrong with the tunes or the group.......2007-01-15

Based out of New York City and boasting some of the city's finest musicians, the Mingus Big Band is one of four ensembles (the others being the Mingus Dynasty, Mingus Orchestra, and Epitaph Orchestra) dedicated to its namesake's music.
"Live in Tokyo" features new arrangements of eight classic Mingus compositions which span three decades and are delivered with gusto and nuance by the fourteen-members of the MBB.
Half of the tunes are culled from the `50s. "Bird Calls," is Mingus' tribute to Charlie Parker and the gorgeous ballad "Celia," features Craig Handy as the lone soloist.
"Meditations" and "Ecclusiastics" were both composed in the `60s with the latter including trombonist Ku-Umba Frank Lacy fervently preaching from the pulpit of the blues.
The program is rounded out with "Opus Four" and "Free Cell Block F," two gems from the `70s, the latter of which was first performed by Mingus' last great quintet which included saxophonist George Adams and Don Pullen. Originally appearing on the album "Changes Two" with the expanded moniker of "Free Cell Block F, Tiz Nazi U.S.A.," the tunes' breezy theme belies its deadly-serious title and provides an excellent backdrop for inspired solos by Handy on flute, Conrad Herwig and Lacy on trombone, and Ronnie Cuber on baritone sax.

5 out of 5 stars Outstanding!.......2006-09-30

In December of 1976, Charles Mingus and his quintet performed a series of concerts in Tokyo playing a stripped down version of big band arrangements by Mingus, and of those he admired. Thirty years later, the fourteen piece band that keeps the Mingus name as a legacy performed in Tokyo, playing fully orchestrated versions of the songs Mingus' quintet offered Japanese audiences a generation beforehand. Live In Tokyo is a document of this return engagement.

This is an amazing album. From the opening notes of "Wham Bam", to the final moments of "Ecclusiastics", The Mingus Big Band swings and sways through these songs like a typhoon of exalted joy blowing the roof off the famous Blue Note Club. The band is a Who's Who of jazz performers, featuring Eddie Henderson, Jack Walrath, and Alex Sipiagin on trumpets, Abe Burton, Craig Handy, Wayne Escoffery, Seamus Blake, and Ronnie Cuber on saxophones, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Conrad Herwig, and Earl McIntyre on trombones and tuba, Dave Kikowski on piano, Kenny Davis on bass and Jonathan Blake on drums. Big band enthusiasts will find themselves exhausted by the extremely powerful horn arrangements on "Opus Four", "Free Cell Block F", and "Bird Calls"; Escoffery's solo sax on "Prayer for Passive Resistance", Handy's solo arrangement of "Celia" and the smooth, cool jazz of "Meditations", a quartet piece which includes Davis' brilliant bass lines, Handy playing a la Eric Dolphy on Melody Flute, Kikowski's piano and Abe Burton's frenetic sax.

There isn't one false note on Live In Tokyo, and like all great albums, the music stays with you. After listening to the album a third time yesterday, I found myself inadvertently pounding out the back beat by slapping my thighs while waiting for the bus. The album lingers on in my head even now, and I haven't played it since yesterday afternoon. Most importantly, the pleasure the musicians take in playing this date transcends the recording process as each piece pulls you in and makes you feel like you're sitting right there with them.

Live In Tokyo is a marvelous tribute to Mingus. It allows his work to breathe again; grow into directions Mingus would have challenged had he lived long enough. But even if you're not a huge Mingus fan, Live In Tokyo is an extremely solid work which will set your foot tapping and tempt you into turning your living room into a temporary swing club. It is a masterful work of art that allows Mingus to live again in the hearts of jazz aficionados' everywhere.
Right Now: Live at the Jazz Workshop
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Mind-blazingly good
  • This is easily the best Mingus album I own.
  • Incredible Live Performance
  • Don't Buy It Right Now, Maybe Later
Right Now: Live at the Jazz Workshop
Charles Mingus
Manufacturer: Ojc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000GCB1
Release Date: 1991-07-01

Tracks:

  1. New Fables
  2. Meditation (For A Pair Of Wire Cutters)

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Mind-blazingly good.......2007-01-15

I'm wondering whether the reviewer Mike Richman actually listened to this album, or just looked at the names of the personnel and decided from there how the music sounds. I challenge anyone with even a remote interest in jazz to listen to this version of Fables of Faubus and propose there is "nothing exciting" about it. This band, though obviously propelled by the rhythm section of Mingus and Richmond, tear into this piece like never before. As an interesting experiment, and to illuminate the genius of Charles Mingus, listen to "Fables of Faubus" as recorded on Mingus Ah Um, then the version on Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (featuring audible lyrics, as well as Dolphy on sax), then listen to this version.

Over the course of 4 or 5 years, Mingus evolved this piece from a standard bop tune with a great theme, to a veritable epic masterwork with interweaving melodies and furious energy. In terms of sheer virtuosity and brilliant composing, this performance nearly rivals Mingus's greatest work, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. This version of "Fables" is at a higher tempo than the previous recordings, yet the band never lets up for a moment. Just when you think the piece may be winding down to a finale, the players introduce a completely new section, or they revitalize a melody from 10 minutes earlier. Even at 23 minutes in length, this performance doesn't drag for a second. Along the way, you get Mingus and Richmond howling along with the music, John Handy pulling aural cartwheels in order to keep up with them, and, as an additional musical affirmation of ethnicity in this already politically-charged composition, the whole band revisits the rollicking theme of Ysabel's Table Dance from Mingus's Tijuana Moods. No, jazz fans, there is no lack of excitement here.

In addition to New Fables, you also get Meditations (on a pair of wire cutters), a piece about integration, whose sophistication and understatement puts Mingus on par with almost any of his classical music contemporaries. The torment in his bowed bass will leave you haunted and speechless.

It is a shame that Mingus withdrew from the jazz scene amidst a slew of personal and mental problems, right at the height of his creative powers in 1965. This 1964 disc, along with the newly reissued UCLA performance, are testament to his legacy, along with Ellington, as the greatest of all jazz composers, and a powerful, unpredictable bandleader. Charles Mingus continued to exert his compositional prowess on "Let My Children Hear Music" and his other late-period releases, but never again would any of his bands match the fire and fury attained during the era of RIGHT NOW.

5 out of 5 stars This is easily the best Mingus album I own........2006-09-07

Listen to this version of New Fables. There are so many parts that swing so intensely... I really can't explain it any better than this band plays it. Listen! Mingus on bass, Dannie Richmond (he sounds absolutely killer on this album) on drums, Cliff Jordan on tenor (best I've ever heard him sound,) Jane Getz on piano (she was 16 when she made this recording) and special guest John Handy (always a treat) on alto. Buy this, you won't be disappointed.

5 out of 5 stars Incredible Live Performance.......2005-05-06

I am a huge Mingus fan, and I think this recording of New Fables is the most intense version I have heard. The way the bass takes it upon itself to lead the band into each part of the song is amazing. Must be listened to at top volume.

3 out of 5 stars Don't Buy It Right Now, Maybe Later.......2000-07-27

"Right Now: Live at the Jazz Workshop" is a typically good live performance from Charles Mingus, there's just nothing overly exciting about it. The two extended compositions "Fables of Faubus" and "Meditations" are available on numerous other recordings, and these are not definitive versions. Also, this recording is from 1964, and there are two other live recordings from the same year that I would easily recommend ahead of this one -- "Town Hall Concert (OJC)" and "Revenge." Both of these CDs feature all-star bands including Eric Dolphy, whereas "Right Now" is an average band, with Clifford Jordan and the ever-present Dannie Richmond the only notables. This isn't a bad Mingus album (he didn't make many of those), but there are a lot better things out there.
Live at Carnegie Hall
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • On Ellington
  • Listen Up
  • If you are a saxophonist, you must own this album.
  • high energy Mingus
  • Jam session is right!
Live at Carnegie Hall
Charles Mingus
Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000033QY
Release Date: 1996-03-26

Tracks:

  1. C Jam Blues
  2. Perdido

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars On Ellington.......2006-06-04

Mingus was never easily categorized - a modernist with a keen sense of jazz history, ironical towards the "copy-cats" of other great modernists, politically bitter in his public statements, etc.
At this CD, Mingus presided over two remarkable jam-sessions on tunes from Duke Ellington's magnificent repertoire.
Naturally, Ellington was just one of the influences on Mingus, who developed highly indivudual and instantly recognizable style and poetics, but this CD gives a great example of the way Mingus approached the music of his elder colegues. The performances are at the same time modern and swinging in the traditional sense, with Rahsaan Roland Kirk, George Adams, Hamiet Bluiett and others (who blew me out my mind with joy by their strong playing) constantly led by the leaders strong rhythmical pulse. A masterpiece.
Full of brilliant improvisations and "cutting contests", these two jams nevertheless have the feal of a "composition" (or "arrangement")in the sense of Ellington's or Mingus's best orchestral work.

5 out of 5 stars Listen Up.......2005-12-17

If you want to hear Mingus rave on one of his sick free jazz solos, this ain't the place to find it.....Migus says it best himself: "I used to play avant garde bass when nobody else did; now I play 4/4 because none of the other bass players do." - (1975) This record is The Master watching all of his children at play, and having a blast doing it. Five Stars.

5 out of 5 stars If you are a saxophonist, you must own this album........2005-09-16

Much of the appreciation of Mingus is due to his compositions. And, to be fair, they are among the best in the jazz canon. So, one might shy away from this album because it contains no original Mingus work. Don't let that fool you. Mingus also had the reputation of bringing out the best in those he played with, including Duke Ellington, or, in this case, five of the finest and most underrated saxophonists of the 20th Century: Roland Kirk, John Handy, Charles McPherson, Hamiet Bluiett, and George Adams. As an experiment, ask your favorite saxophonist which soloist he likes best - don't worry, he'll be familiar with the album. I must admit, I like Bluiett.

5 out of 5 stars high energy Mingus.......2005-08-07

I guess one of the reasons I like this so much is it was one of my first Mingus albums bought back in the 70's. Excellent band & while other Mingus albums may showcase his creativity more, this is an excellent example of something he also did with skill, assembling a top notch big band that just cooks.
Nothing like the dynamic of a live session where everybody's tuned in & getting inspiration from each previous solo.

5 out of 5 stars Jam session is right!.......2001-12-30

The other reviewers are absolutely correct in saying that this album is not a showcase for Mingus' compositions or arrangements. That should be obvious from the song selection, two of the most basic Ellington standards. It's a JATP-style blowing session, pure and simple, but what a blowing session! The soloing is uniformly excellent throughout, in keeping with Mingus' ability to draw the best out of musicians just by being there. However, the standout here, and clearly the reason for this album's release, is Rahsaan Roland Kirk, who takes two extended solos that absolutely stand the room on its collective ear. His consistent creativity, his amazing circle-breathing prowess, and his good-natured rivalry with fellow tenor man George Adams all conspire to bring the crowd to its feet. And check out his takeoff on Adams' trademark screeching style on C-Jam Blues! As Mingus said, "He's cuttin' him at his own s--t!"
Live at Chateauvallon (1972)
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Live at Chateauvallon (1972)
    Charles Mingus
    Manufacturer: France's Concert
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    Avant Garde & Free JazzAvant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
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    ASIN: B000001PWF
    Release Date: 1995-11-01

    Tracks:

    1. Fables of Faubus
    2. Blues for a Saw
    3. Diane
    4. Medley: Stormy Weather/In a Sentimental Mood/Sophisticated Lady
    Live at the Village Vanguard
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Live at the Village Vanguard
      Mingus Dynasty
      Manufacturer: Storyville Records
      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD

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      ASIN: B0000022EC
      Release Date: 1994-12-14

      Tracks:

      1. Peggy's Blue Skylight
      2. Mr. Jelly Roll Soul
      3. The Man Who Never Sleeps
      4. Duke Ellington's Sound Of Love
      5. Better Get Hit In Your Soul
      6. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
      Live at the Village Vanguard
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        Live at the Village Vanguard
        Mingus Dynasty
        Manufacturer: Storyville Records
        ProductGroup: Music
        Binding: Audio CD

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        Avant Garde & Free JazzAvant Garde & Free Jazz | Live Albums | Jazz | Styles | Music
        ASIN: B00002454P
        Release Date: 1999-04-06

        Tracks:

        1. Peggy's Blue Skylight
        2. Mr. Jelly Roll Soul
        3. The Man Who Never Sleeps
        4. Duke Ellington's Sound Of Love
        5. Better Get Hit In Your Soul
        6. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
        Live at Montreux
        Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
        • A Long Wait
        Live at Montreux
        Mingus Dynasty
        Manufacturer: Collectables
        ProductGroup: Music
        Binding: Audio CD

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        1. Chair in the Sky

        ASIN: B00005MKD7
        Release Date: 2001-08-14

        Tracks:

        1. Haitian Fight Song
        2. Consider Me, Oh Lord
        3. Fables of Faubus
        4. Ysabel's Table Dance
        5. Sketch Two
        6. Better Git Hit in Your Soul

        Customer Reviews:

        5 out of 5 stars A Long Wait.......2005-05-17

        I had owned this on Vinal many years ago. There is one cut on here that was composed by Mingus but he never got to play it.
        It's called sketch two. It is one of my all time favorites out of my collection of 500 plus CD's (95% Jazz) This is a very well recored CD. Worth adding to any serious collection.
        Live in Tokyo at the Blue Note
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Live in Tokyo at the Blue Note

          ProductGroup: Music
          Binding: Audio CD

          Contemporary Big BandContemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
          ASIN: B000H0MGW8
          Release Date: 2006-09-26
          Live at Birdland 1962
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            Live at Birdland 1962
            Charles Mingus
            Manufacturer: Jazz View
            ProductGroup: Music
            Binding: Audio CD

            Avant Garde & Free JazzAvant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
            Modern PostbebopModern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music
            ASIN: B000KJ9B6U

            Product Description

            Ltd. Ed. European Import CD of Live Mingus performances, feat. his Classic Group, with Booker Ervin, Jaki Byard, Richard Williams + more; on stage at Birdland in New York.
            Subduction:  Live at the Artists' Quarter
            Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
            • Subduction will shake your world
            Subduction: Live at the Artists' Quarter
            Phil Hey Quartet
            Manufacturer: Artists' Quarter Records
            ProductGroup: Music
            Binding: Audio CD

            Bebop GeneralBebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music
            GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Styles | Music
            ASIN: B000CAGB1A
            Release Date: 2005-10-18

            Customer Reviews:

            5 out of 5 stars Subduction will shake your world.......2006-07-28

            The word 'subduction' deals with the movement of tectonic plates that is a slow process that can result in earthquakes and volcanic activity. Likewise, music on this CD builds tension subtly and releases that tension in great rhythmic eruptions. The first sounds you hear on this CD is Dave Hagedorn's haunting vibraphone solo that introduces Bobby Hutcherson's Highway One, the last is Phil Hey's turbulent and triumphant drum solo for the final chorus of John Coltrane's Fifth House and the cheers of the crowd. What lies between is a demonstration of musical mastery that each musician has honed and the collaborative chemistry that has kept this band vital over the past 5 years.

            Starting at the turn of the millennium, the Phil Hey Quartet has had a regular gig at the Artists' Quarter in Saint Paul for one Thursday a month (and the occasional week-end). I have had the pleasure of attending many, if not most, of those gigs along with a steadily growing cadre of oldsters and youngsters who all feel very hip indeed to have discovered a subterranean hideout where you can hear world-class hard bop for a $3 cover. A feature of these gigs is that they would always play one tune that the group had never played together before, one member would bring in a new tune or arrangement and they'd all dig-in. This process helps them develop a book that is full of great and seldom heard tunes from both obscure and well known writers. One night Tom Lewis brought in a beautiful tune called Floresta written by Brazilian composer Hermento Pascoal which appears on this CD. In addition to Pascoal, Hutcherson, and Coltrane mentioned earlier, there are tunes on this CD written by Charles Mingus, Irving Berlin, Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, and Phil Hey's original, Subduction.

            One night at the AQ Phil Hey told a story of touring with the great tenor player Charlie Rouse. There was this very loud man in the audience talking over the music. Phil said he was getting pretty angry and kept playing softer and softer, but the guy didn't have a clue and never shut up. Phil talked with Rouse during the break and said "Did you hear that guy?". Rouse answered, "Yeah I heard him. It happens ... It made you mad though, didn't it?" Phil said, "yeah" and then Rouse said, "Then why didn't you play like it? There's nothing worse than a drummer with no fire." and then walked off. Phil said he was devastated, but the lesson was driven home. Phil is a passionate drummer who now doesn't hide it, and he uses that fire to slowly bring the music to a boil on this CD. Listening to this CD is almost like being there, hearing them "create beauty on demand" (As Davis Wilson says in the liner notes).


            The Musicians

            Pianist Phil Aaron has his own trio that has had a regular Friday and Saturday night gig at the Hotel Sofitel for many years. Phil Aaron attended the Berklee School of Music and the University of Illinois. Aaron served as music director in the dance department at UCLA and also taught music at Santa Monica College. He is a preferred pianist among vocalists and national touring acts, including Frank Morgan, Byron Stripling, Bob Sheppard, Sammy Davis Jr., John Patitucci, Scott Colley, Jeff Clayton, Ray Drummond, Barbara Morrison and Jackie Allen. In addition to five CD releases as leader, Aaron has appeared on a number of recordings by other artists. Phil has a style of playing that is dense and rich in color when comping and relaxed and lyrical when soloing, evoking Bill Evans. Phil has a habit of rising from the bench hovering over the keys when soloing, the sound makes one almost believe that he is levitating.


            I was quite amazed the first time I heard the sound, the beauty and fury that Dave Hagedorn, an uber-musician, generates when playing. Mild-mannered until he gets behind the vibraphone, Hagedorn is an Artist in Residence in the Music Department at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, where he teaches percussion, jazz studies and world music. He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Percussion Performance from the Eastman School of Music, as well as various music-related degrees from the New England Conservatory and the University of Minnesota. His 2003 CD SOLIDLIQUID was released on Artegra Records. He studied with, and has toured nationally with, George Russell and appeared on Russell's recordings So What and The African Game. George Russell had singular significance in the evolution of jazz in the second half of the 20th century, Russell's book, The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, first published in 1953 changed the way jazz was taught and understood, and was responsible for introducing modal improvisation, as in the seminal recording of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. Hagedorn demonstrates his knowledge of harmony and rhythm around the Twin Cities in performances and recordings of local ensembles, including the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and performs with groups including Source Code with Eric Kamau Gravatt, Apex, Low Blows, and Pete Whitman's X-Tet. It's not unusual to see Hagedorn enter the AQ late in the evening in tails and sit in with the band having just finished a gig with Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra or Minnesota Opera.


            Tom Lewis is one of the busiest bassists in town who appears as a sideman on many local CD's. He is a first call bass player with visiting artists like Benny Golson, Mose Allison, and Charles McPherson. Tom is also busy with local groups like the Phil Aaron Trio and is a long-time member of local bebop icon, Eddie Berger's All Stars - along with Phil Hey. Another thing that Tom and Phil have in common is they both attended the Woodstock, NY-based Creative Music Studio. During the '70 and '80's, the Creative Music Studio was considered the premier study center for contemporary creative music. Founded in 1971 by Karl Berger, Ingrid Sertso and Ornette Coleman, CMS brought together leading innovators in the jazz and world music communities. Unprecedented in its range and diversity, CMS was an acknowledged phenomenon in the international music world, providing participants with the rare opportunity to interact personally with the musical giants of improvisation and musical thought on a daily basis. Phil Hey called it "a profound experience" and that was were he met Don Cherry, Dave Holland, and Ed Blackwell who would become his mentor.

            Phil Hey studied with Ed Blackwell starting in the mid-1970s. The lessons, which were conducted in New York, Minneapolis, Chicago and Blackwell's home in Connecticut, were crucial to Hey's drumming skills, and opened his eyes to a whole world of jazz. The friendship that formed between the two drummers resulted in years of Blackwell sharing experiences, as well as introducing Hey to future employers like Dewey Redman, Charlie Rouse and Kenny Barron. "I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing if it wasn't for Blackwell," says Hey.

            Their academic credentials may make them sound like a lot of egghead music theoreticians, but these are also seasoned veterans with much road-learning under their belts. They play with passion and commitment to the music. As one who has listened to this band over the past several years. I am very pleased with the result. Subduction is the culmination their labor and artistry, and a celebration of the music they have created together. I hope it is a first of many to come.

            This review first appeared on [.........].

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