Charles Mingus Right Now: Live At The Jazz Workshop

With Clifford Jordan on tenor, John Handy on alto, Jane Getz on piano, and Dannie Richmond on drums, Charles Mingus went into San Francisco and whipped up a storm. This LP contains two compositions over 23-minutes each: “New Fables” and “Meditation (For A Pair Of Wire Cutters).” “New Fables” features a ten-minute solo from Jordan, some fine ensemble work, and a solo encounter from Handy. Mingus changes the mood as he sees fit, and one would describe these different styles as avant-garde (in 1964), blues, flamenco, and straight-ahead jazz. Handy’s work is stirring, deeply imaginative, technically thrilling, and a harbinger of what was to come the following year at Monterey. In “Meditations” Mingus bowing the bass in the cello range with that certain sad quality, Jane Getz playing loose, free, and exciting, much as she does today, and a moment where Mingus joins Getz for a fourhanded piano romp. The piece is a flowing ballad, but there are constant changes throughout(...) (allaboutjazz)