It’s swell when a new jazz reissue label’s choices are inspired rather than predictable. Such is the case with New Land of the UK, which has an expanded 2LP edition of A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry with Charlie Mingus coming out October 28. It follows three albums released back in August: Howard McGhee’s Dusty Blue, Gerry Mulligan’s Night Lights, and a self-titled effort by Blue Mitchell. All four are reviewed below, with extra emphasis on the upcoming Mingus set.
It’s just an assumption, and quite possibly wrong, that the New Land label takes its name from Lee Morgan’s masterwork of 1964, Search for the New Land. The reasoning is that Morgan’s album, which sat on the shelf for two years as Blue Note tried to squeeze out a follow-up to Morgan’s 1964 instrumental hit “The Sidewinder.”
Featuring a unimpeachable sextet (trumpeter-composer Morgan, tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, guitarist Grant Green, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Billy Higgins, Search for the New Land is a highwater mark in modern jazz, but more to the point, it was a record that came into existence without the expectations of a masterpiece attached, as its reputation has grown over the years.
It’s easy to speculate that the four records reissued by New Land benefitted from a similar lack of pressure in their making, even as Dusty Blue, originally issued by Bethlehem in 1961, was something of a comeback for the crucial Bop-era trumpeter Howard McGhee, whose return to the recording studio after a decade struggling with drug addiction found him in top-notch company: Tommy Flanagan on piano, Roland Alexander on tenor sax and flute, Pepper Adams on baritone sax, Bennie Green on trombone, Ron Carter on bass, and Walter Bolden on drums.
While nothing truly spectacular occurs across the LP, which combines three McGhee originals with a half-dozen outside compositions including Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music,” Cole Porter’s “I Concentrate on You,” and Dizzy Gillespie’s bebop cornerstone “Groovin’ High,” the ensemble play and the solos are sharp and inspired throughout, and the recent remastering really enhances the rhythm section’s input. McGhee’s own bop showcase “Flyin’ Colors” is a highlight, as is his Exotica-flavored “Sleep Talk.”
Released in 1963 by the Phillips label, Gerry Mulligan’s Night Lights is a ballads-dominated set also strengthened by strong personnel; there’s Art Farmer on flugelhorn, Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone, Jim Hall on guitar, Bill Crow on bass, and Dave Bailey on drums. Along with his signature baritone sax, Mulligan plays piano, but only on the opening title track. The piano on the intriguing closing bonus track version of “Night Lights” from 1965 is by Pete Jolly (note that Hal Blaine also plays drums on this latter take).
The inherent fibrousness of Mulligan’s blowing gives an added boost to the ballads, which are relaxed without succumbing to the sleepy. And while a romantic angle is inescapable, said atmosphere never becomes oppressive, in part through savvy arrangements and up-tempo versions of “Morning of the Carnival” (from Marcel Camus’ Black Orpheus) and Mulligan original “Festival Minor.” The warmth of Farmer’s playing deepens the appeal, while Hall’s contribution is mostly about shading.
Jumping forward to 1971, Blue Mitchell was originally issued by the Mainstream label, with the titular trumpeter accompanied by veteran Jimmy Forrest on tenor sax, Walter Bishop Jr. on piano, Larry Gales on bass, and Doug Sides on drums. It should be noted Bishop plays an electric keyboard on this set, with opener “Soul Village” a strong groover from the early fusion period. Anyone digging the recent spate of Black Jazz reissues should investigate this one.
Offering three more Mitchell originals and Benny Golson’s “Are You Real,” the rest of the LP is a decidedly more straight-ahead affair, which isn’t surprising given the general thrust of the trumpeter’s extensive work for Riverside and Blue Note. But it’s straight-ahead in a very 1971 way. This was apparently Mitchell’s working band at the time, so the playing is exceptionally together while avoiding the pitfalls of autopilot. Finale “Mi Hermano” radiates vibes similar to Eddie Harris’ “Freedom Jazz Dance,” and those are good vibes indeed.
Recorded in 1957 and released in ’59 by Bethlehem, A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry with Charles Mingus is the oldest record in this bunch, and also the most ambitious; it’s additionally one of five records Mingus cut in ’57, joining The Clown (Atlantic), Mingus Three (aka Trio) (Jubilee), East Coasting (Bethlehem), and Tijuana Moods, this last one not released until ’62 by RCA.
New Land mentions that in the grand scheme of Mingus’ achievements, A Modern Jazz Symposium is sometimes overlooked, a statement that rings true partly because the record emerged belatedly, amongst a string of canonical platters that continue to be celebrated to this day. Furthermore, vinyl reissues of Symposium have been difficult to find over the years, and New Land’s remastered 2LP expansion with four bonus tracks will surely entice those who do own copies to secure an upgrade.
The band includes longtime Mingus cohorts Jimmy Knepper on trombone and Dannie Richmond on drums alongside a pair of players primarily associated with the bassist-composer’s ’50s stretch, Horace Parlan on piano and Shafi Hadi on tenor and alto sax. Trumpeters Clarence Shaw and Bill Hardman also contribute, as does pianist Bob Hammer, and for the opening track “Scenes in the City” (and its single edit which closes side four), actor Mel Stewart delivers narration of a text written by noted actor-playwright Lonne Elder, with assistance from the great poet Langston Hughes.
The input of Elder and Hughes establishes Symposium as something other than an exercise in bogue cool daddio finger-snapping, or for that matter, legit Beat Generational expressions (Ginsberg’s “Howl” was published in ’56, Kerouac’s On the Road in ’57). Instead, “Scenes in the City” is an exemplary dive into the mid-’50s African-American experience, with the very subject of jazz a part of the text.
“Scenes in the City” is engaging as a time capsule, a wonderfully constructed 12 minute story that, most importantly, is still vital musically. That’s no surprise, as this is a record by Charles Mingus, whose discographical batting average is amongst the highest of the 20th century. Still, there have been evaluations of Symposium that suggest it is somewhat embryonic in nature, or put another way, isn’t yet Mingus in full flower.
Yes, a few moments do support this, specifically “Duke’s Choice,” which gets an update as “I X Love” on ’64’s Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus, as there are also connections to Mingus Ah Um. But “New York Sketchbook” is just an utter delight, fully formed Mingus or not…but y’know, the flat fact is the man’s music was nearly always evolving (the recent ’70s-era reissues attest to this), so I’m not really amenable to assessing this LP as somehow lesser.
The album is, in a nutshell, a document of where Mingus was at circa 1957. Getting to hear his band dish lively takes of “Woody ‘n’ You” and “Billie’s Bounce,” plus that single edit of “Scenes in the City,” really helps to put this edition of Symposium over the top.
Howard McGhee, Dusty Blue
A-
Gerry Mulligan, Night Lights
B+
Blue Mitchell, Blue Mitchell
B+
Charles Mingus, A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry with Charlie Mingus
A
