Mingus Big Band at Ronnie's

[David Ayers]

3 Trumpets: Eddie Henderson, Alex Sipiagin, Kenny Rampton.

3 Trombones: Conrad Herwig (trombone), Ku-umba Frank Lacy (trombone; vocal on Paris in Blue and Atomic Bomb), Earl McIntyre (bass trombone; tuba).

5 Saxophones: Craig Handy (alto; flute), Wayne Escoffery (tenor), Abraham Burton (tenor), Ronnie Cuber (baritone), Jaleel Shaw (alto).

Piano: David Kikoski.

Bass: Boris Kozlov.

Drums: Donald Edwards.

Set list:

1. Pedal Point Blues (arr. Stubblefield)

2. Pinkie (don’t come back from the moon no more looking for love, man)

3. Paris in Blue (arr. McIntyre)

4. Tensions (arr. Kozlov)

5. Oh Lord Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me

(first set only at Ronnie’s 26 October 2004)

Personnel checked against information from http://www.mingusmingusmingus.com

I only stayed for the first set - it was too late for me! Exciting, also showing some rough edges and no worse for that. They are making a recording later in the week to be issued as 'Live at Ronnie Scott's'.

[bertrand]

What is 'Paris In Blue'? Never heard of it.

For those who were speculating some time ago on another thread, I received a postcard that indicates that the Mingus big band will now play on Tuesdays at the Iridium AND keep its Thursday gig at the Fez! The more Mingus the better, that's my philosophy.

Bertrand.

[David Ayers]

It's a song, recorded for Debut with Jackie Paris. The lyric is intended to be a kind of ironic summary of the moods of a broadway musical.

[David Ayers]

Here is the Times review of Monday night:

First Night reviews

October 29, 2004

Jazz

Mingus Big Band

Clive Davis ath Ronnie Scott's, W1

AT ITS best — that is to say, most of the time — the Mingus Big Band is an irresistible force of nature. When the elements do not all fall into place, on the other hand, the New York orchestra can resemble a mighty Saturn V rocket that stubbornly refuses to leave the launch-pad. Sparks fly, the ground shakes, our ears ring, but when the smoke clears our eyes are still fixed on the ground.

This was one of those sets. By the end of the week normal service will probably have been resumed. (If you want to add your handclaps to posterity, the band plans to record a live album in the club towards the end of its stay.)

But even allowing for the fact that the musicians are in the business of celebrating the workshop aspect of Mingus’s legacy — none of his compositions is ever set in stone — this performance had the air of an occasionally meandering rehearsal, with one or two of the players looking less than fully engaged with the job at hand.

That said, even a substandard display is preferable to some of the ultra-tight but lifeless big bands that ply the circuit.

This ghost band is certainly made of flesh and blood. And amid the good-humoured turmoil it is quite possible to spend most of the evening simply admiring the thunderous but effortlessly precise double-bass playing of Boris Koslov. His loping phrases set proceedings off at full tilt on the opening version of Pedal Point Blues, Donald Edward’s cymbal ringing like an alarm bell as Ronnie Cuber’s baritone saxophone nudged the horn section onwards.

Tensions proved just as exhilarating, once Koslov had finished delivering lengthy instructions on how to negotiate his arrangement. There was less to be said for the rambling Pinky, and it was a mistake to make room for two slow-burning songs from the trombonist Ku-umba Frank Lacy, the band’s eccentric-in-chief. His wayward, guttural singing extracted ample humour from an old favourite, Oh, Lord, Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me. But it was difficult to see that Paris in Blue, supposedly a parody of a Broadway musical romance, was worth salvaging.

The audience enjoyed the burlesque, however. The best is yet to come.