jazzbo Posted June 18, 2003 Report Posted June 18, 2003 If you like Mingus, I would say yes. It's rough and raw in parts. It's got stops and starts and was a recording event gone wrong. . . but I like it. Quote
mikeweil Posted June 19, 2003 Report Posted June 19, 2003 As a document of Mingus' attempts at large ensemble writing and his personal failures on the way, I#d say it's indispensable. If you only look for his fully realized albums, it's second order. If you're a Mingus fan, well why did you ask in the first place? Quote
dave9199 Posted June 20, 2003 Author Report Posted June 20, 2003 I'm a fan, but found out I don't like everything he's done (complete Debut box, that was a pricey mistake for me). So before I buy it, I ask for opinions on it. Quote
JSngry Posted June 20, 2003 Report Posted June 20, 2003 It's more "compositional" than his small group stuff, but there are also plenty of solos. The ensembles are pretty ragged in spots, but not so much that the details are lost. A little blurred, maybe, but they are such strong details that they can withstand some blurring! I'd not recommend this one to a Mingus newbie or somebody who is more interested in his soloists/small group concepts than his composing, but I do think it is a very worthwhile album for both the writing and the soloing, no matter how sloppy it gets in spots. If you like Mingus enough to have all the "essentials" and want to broaden your awareness/appreciation of his musical scope, I'd say go for it. Besides, the crowd booing when the stagehands lower the curtain, as per Union regulations, in the middle of "In A Mellotone" leaves an indellable impression, sorta like Ellington at Newport in reverse. It's the perversely perfect capper to the evening's festivities. I've seen snippets of silent footage from the actual concert, and to say that Mingus looked and acted frantic and that the whole scene seemed chaotic would be understating it. What a night it must have been for those present! The music is a LOT better than the day-after critical pans would suggest, but I can certainly imagine how objective criticism of the music must have been near impossible if you had been there in person witnessing all the disorganization as it unfolded. Quote
JSngry Posted June 20, 2003 Report Posted June 20, 2003 I'm a fan, but found out I don't like everything he's done (complete Debut box, that was a pricey mistake for me). So before I buy it, I ask for opinions on it. Oh, well then. This is nothing like the Debut stuff, which is heavy on Tristano and "classical" concepts. Mingus had long moved into a more, for lack of a better term, "earthy" concept by the time TOWN HALL was recorded. Even though there's ;ots of written parts, the feel is much "rawer" than the material from the Debut years. If you've heard EPITAPH, this is more in line with that. Actually, a great deal of EPITAPH comes from the music that was performed at Town Hall. EPITAPH is a lot cleaner in execution, TOO clean, if you ask me. TOWN HALL gets the feel right and has significantly better soloists, to put it mildly. Quote
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