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Favorite Reed Player with Charles Mingus

Guy Berger

By Guy Berger
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Which of the following reed players (aside from Eric Dolphy) made your favorite contributions to Mingus's music  

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king ubu Apprentice

king ubu

Posted
Posted (edited)

I really can't vote on this one!

Booker is one of my favorite tenor players of any era, yet Handy, and also Shafi Hadi are great.

Then, Clifford Jordan is great on the '64 tour!

I have none of the Bobby Jones records with Mingus, but his trio record on Enja with George Mraz and the GREAT Freddie Waits is BAAAD!

Adams, I don't like him too much, well, I like him, but he's no match for the other four, in my opinion.

McLean I would not really consider a Mingus alumni. He turns in some good work on Pithecantropus (as does JR Monterose, by the way), and on Blues & Roots, though.

While typing this, I decide I can vote: and it's gotta be Hadi for me, too!

I love him on Tijuana, East Coasting, some of the Columbia stuff... (by the way, Clarence/Gene Shaw would be my favorite Mingus trumpet player! - the year of 57 was a great one for Mingus!).

ubu

Edited by king ubu
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JSngry Grand Master

JSngry

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Posted

An "other" I would have considered voting for would be Bobby Jones. . . . I like so much what little I have heard by this guy. Gonna have to seek out the Muse and Cobblestone (same thing?). . .

Yeah, same thing. Used to have it, traded it away after never really gelling with it. Wish I had it back now. What's new?...

Supposedly the Jones to have is HILL COUNTRY SUITE on Enja. Never heard it, though.

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JSngry Grand Master

JSngry

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Objectively, I'd have to go with Dolphy, in spite of not being allpwed to. :g The cat had the emotional AND technical depth to meet Mingus head-on (and then some) at every possible level (and then some). I think Mingus knew it too.

Subjectively, I'd still choose Dolphy, but I got a thing for Clifford Jordan and Charles McPherson too. Booker is like the bark on a tree - he's always going to be there being what he is, easy to take for granted, easy to get too excited about, but still essential. George Adams is the guy who was w/Mingus during my active awareness of jazz, him and Ricky Ford, and he made a deep impression on me, especially on those CHANGES albums, so I can't slight him.

Hell, Mingus didn't work with any bums. They're all good!

Edited by JSngry
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Late Collaborator

Late

Posted
Posted

Had to go with Kirk, though I adore just about every player listed. To me, Kirk's playing on Oh Yeah! is so enormously dominant on that session — with even Mingus noticeably giving over the reigns at times, albeit from the piano chair — that I couldn't not vote for him. If I ever need an instant "good mood" punch, I put on "Hog Callin' Blues." It's almost no-fail for me. Some of the most spirited "Mingus" playing on record.

Of course, Mariano on "Celia" does it too ... :wacko:

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Chuck Nessa Mentor

Chuck Nessa

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First a tip to Kin Gubu, "awful" means terrible to American/English speaking people. I was startled by your mention of him concerning the '64 tour.

I heard groups "live" with McPherson, Adams and Jones. BUT Shafi Hadi is my choice for the best for Mingus. Mingus wanted the "sweetness' of Johnny Hodges with the "edge" of Bird and Hadi/Porter delivered this.

I would add "good soldier" Buddy Collette to the mix for ensemble security.

Most of you don't know this, but Herb Caro in the '40s was the guy "on the make" as the best Mingus sideman before he died. I think he'd have been "something".

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BFrank Proficient

BFrank

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Posted

I had to go with Adams. I'm a big fan.

The way that Adams, Pullen and Richmond took up the "cause" with their quartet after Charles passed away had a lot to do with it, too. Some of my favorite music, and I was fortunate to have seen them a handful of times (not lucky enough to have seen Mingus himself, though).

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king ubu Apprentice

king ubu

Posted
Posted

First a tip to Kin Gubu, "awful" means terrible to American/English speaking people. I was startled by your mention of him concerning the '64 tour.

Thanks Chuck! Not having had any real to real personal conversation in english for the last three or four year, I try my best :tup

(Uh, it's "king ubu" nevertheless -_- )

ubu

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Joe Proficient

Joe

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Posted (edited)

I went with Hadi, and not just because of his great "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" solo. Hadi was somehow able to put an Ellingtonian spin (timbral variation, understanding of ensemble dynamics) to a very set of quintessentially hard bop ideas (some original funk in his ideas; an almost caustic articualtion of bop phrasing).

INSERT:

Damn, Chuck said almost this very same thing, only much more succinctly.

END

The little bit of mystery that surrounds Hadi doesn't hurt either.

The Bobby Jones HILL COUNTRY SUITE is an excellent date, though Jones' clarinet is slightly more in evidence than his tenor sax.

Edited by Joe
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