The Clown

WHAT NYMITH SAYS

The Clown was Mingus' first followup to Pithecanthropus Erectus and is usually referred to as his second masterpiece in a row. For you to agree with that statement you are required to like Charlie Parker and love clowns. If you do, run and get this album. Prepare to be amazed. If you're indifferent to Bird and/or hate clowns (such is my case), then prepare yourself to enjoy roughly two thirds of this LP.

Four tracks again, just like on Pithecanthropus. The Pithecanthropus people were all ousted by the time the followup was being made. Some of the new guys had more luck: Dannie Richmond became a permanent fixture on drums, while Jimmy Knepper (trombone) and Shafi Hadi (sax) spent several years in the Mingus ensemble.

'Haitian Fight Song' kicks things off with a whole minute of bass soloing from Mingus. There is an actual artistic purpose to this decision as the bass carries the underlying melody so it's not just Mingus being drunk with power and abusing his position as band leader. As for the song's tone poem abilities ... I thought at first it was about a boxing match and that made no sense at all. It turns out he based the idea on the Haitian Revolution, better explaining the gravity and steadiness of the song. He doesn't recycle ideas from 'Pithecanthropus Erectus' - high doses of chaos and shrieking would make it an inferior clone and thankfully Hadi only slips into that zone for a few moments. Mingus was trying to find new ways to express his feelings on matters of suffering and injustice and did a nice job this time out. Unlike 'Pithecanthropus,' 'Haitian Fight Song' also stands all by itself as a remarkable composition where the former tone poem really required some awareness of its intent to be effective.

However, I hold the minority opinion that 'Blue Cee' is actually the album's highlight. It's a fun track and fun does not often go with Mingus (he was called the Angry Man of Jazz, after all). No concept, just a good melodic spine, some swagger in the riff and a lot of improv that does not include any squawking of any sort. It's not ambitious but I always enjoy this track regardless of my ambient mood. Funnily enough, there were two bonus tracks that Mingus left off The Clown in favour of 'Blue Cee' because word was going round that he couldn't swing! So he looked to the blues for inspiration and I applaud his decision to show them what for.

I have not heard enough Charlie Parker to form an accurate impression of 'Reincarnation of a Lovebird.' It gets off to a slow start but certainly has effective moments and may well function as a deep-cutting tribute for those avid fans of Bird. I appreciate its intricacy and they conjured a certain moodiness that can hit you even if you've heard less Parker than I have. It definitely rewards repeated listens and has steadily grown on me but I am aware I'm not its target audience.

Lastly, 'The Clown.' A twelve minute spoken word conceptual piece on a clown realizing that the only thing people laugh at is misfortune. It ends with him dying when his stage collapses on top of him and listening to the crowd enjoying his demise. I barely made it through the "song" once and have no desire to ever revisit it. Mingus was trying to make a revelation but I don't see why this needed to be the venue. What was his complaint? That too many performers only gain renown after they die? Skip this, listen to 'Fruit Tree.' That slapstick is a cruel form of entertainment? No one with a real knee-jerk dislike of the medium will possibly want to listen to this or need its message. It doesn't even work as music. Jean Shepherd gives us the lowdown while Mingus and his crew noodle away in the background. I really do not care for it at all and honestly don't see any way I could have. I will take a lifelong rain check on this one. Sorry, Mingus.

Three out of four songs doesn't look that bad. It's a pity the bad one takes up almost a third of the record. Problematic. I would not proclaim this a masterpiece, though if you're a Mingus fan you will be rewarded for your troubles. I personally recommend the curious to just stop the player when 'Reincarnation of a Lovebird' is finished and go on to happier things. Yes, I really hate clowns.

WHAT TICHARU SAYS

In the days of the record album, if you had this album in your collection you probably didn't have an aversion to clowns. You would have had to walk out of the record shop with a 12 inch photo of a clown face tucked under your arm. Maybe you wouldn't have been able to find the record in the first place as people with an aversion to clowns stuck this record to the back of the rack or maybe the folks who worked in the shop, knowing this album was pretty good covered the jacket with brown paper and warned their regular jazz customers. Or maybe clowns weren't scary in the 1950s?

These days of the MP3 you can assign any image you like to your MP3 or non at all and you can simply delete or not add the relentlessly odd title track to your playlist. Combining the 3 excellent instrumental tracks from this album with the under-valued East Coasting which came out the same year to a playlist in your iPOD would result in some very happy jazz moments for your morning commute or mid afternoon cocktail before making dinner with something more sedate.

I like this record, yes I do, 3 out of 4 tracks anyway. It has a kind of groove and there are some very lovely noisy oddball things Mingus does with a bass that are inventive and right out of left field. It's jazz that pushes the boundary for the time and still sounds really cool all these years down the line. Good stuff.

COVER CRITIQUE: Well, it's a clown so that's 0 stars. Nymith

I like clowns. Ticharu