I'm guessing the common guiding line for jazz in 1957 is that Miles Davis gets the gold, Thelonious Monk gets the silver (though for real snobs it might be the other way around) and Charles Mingus would have to tussle for the bronze with the rest of the pack. Besides which, his major statement for the year was done with The Clown and people tend to overlook East Coasting. It's non-conceptual and calming, not what we associate with Mingus, but give it a chance and it will prove itself one of the finer jazz albums of the year. If only the three great tracks from The Clown were combined with the strongest offerings on East Coasting, it WOULD be my favorite jazz album of the year, beating out Round About Midnight (to say nothing of Incomprehensib Brilliant Corners).
East Coasting moves in on the same turf as Round About Midnight - cool, moody, nocturnal jazz whispering from a corner of the room. No Coltrane to scatter sax notes like confetti, none of Art Blakey's primal audacity or Monk's stapled together geometric insanity. This lack of novelty or daring is probably why East Coasting is considered a minor record - it sounds introverted, like Mingus was for once cooling his jets rather than exploring his concepts of injustice. Chaos, suffering and dead clowns ARE a part of life but they're not all there is to it and I like this glimpse of a mellow Mingus.
With The Clown Mingus found an ensemble he was happy with and the core group of Richmond, Knepper and Hadi remain, with two major changes. First he added a trumpet player, Clarence Shaw; Shaw played on the mysteriously shelved Tijuana Moods and eventually had a huge fight with Mingus and destroyed his instrument. This is a shame as his sensitive playing style really adds a whole new layer to the Mingus sound. Second, he switched out pianist Wade Legge for Bill Evans; Evans has a bright sound to his piano work, playing to the same subdued strengths as Shaw. They're a big part of what makes this album so quietly involving.
The record begins with a romantic exploration of 'Memories of You' (the sole cover included, a sentimental chestnut from the 30s) that is slowed right down and brought to a haunting fruition. This is the music of another time, a jazz expression that is dead and honestly was dead even in the 50s, when The Lawrence Welk Show first aired and small ensembles replaced big bands. It's a farewell to the era, really beautiful.
From there we get the upbeat title track and the sprawling ten minute 'West Coast Ghost' that really functions perfectly on every level. It's dynamic, soulful and facilitates all the players - Shaw chases after the elusive Chet Baker style, with Hadi and Knepper giving him full support and the rhythm section building the song up as they go. No matter how many times Evans kicks back into the central motif, it remains exciting and fresh and I do not tire of it.
'West Coast Ghost' is the centerpiece after which comes another super-romantic outing, this time penned by Mingus ('Celia'), which functions as a bookend for the album and seems like so perfect an outro that I can never fully embrace the last two tracks - hence my wish to combine the best tracks of this album with the first three from The Clown. Perfect Mingus.
This is a surprisingly delicate showing from Mingus that I think is unfairly overlooked. It doesn't brashly stand up and yell its own importance, which only furthers my admiration for one of the most versatile musicians of the 1950s. Very well played. Don't miss it.
WHAT TICHARU SAYS
I'm hearing a bit of a messy session. Moments of brilliance but it sounds to me like they only had one microphone and were crowding around it stepping forward when it came time to solo, some players able to step closer to the microphone than others. In other words, this would have been a truly great album without the horn players. Evans and Mingus blend and jive hand in glove. Can you imagine this album with Art Blakey on drums? Well that's what they should do next time around or get the horn players to just back off and try to blend with the piano, kit and bass at the back of the room.
That said, West Coast Ghost pretty much gets it right, very cool track. All in all the album still gets a pretty high rating despite the disparity in recording levels because, well... it's a fairly pleasant album.
COVER CRITIQUE; Best Mingus cover we've yet seen. No cavemen, no clowns (really weird marketing moves, when you think about it). The heavy brow of the cerebral jazz man, by a still body of water like the Lake Poets of old... He's got his bass slung over his shoulder and yet is still standing straight. Four stars. Nymith
Travel photo... Ticharu
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