This year 2013 marks the 50th anniversary of two landmark albums, both of which were composed and recorded by bassist, pianist and all-round jazz colossus, Charles Mingus. Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus is a reimagining of some of Mingus’s tunes from the 1950s in a way that has influenced acclaimed jazz-rock amalgamates such as Get The Blessing. The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, on the other hand, is a spawling, orchestral masterpiece that is often described as Mingus’s greatest work. This autumn, Arnie Somogyi, a double bassist of some repute who's played with the likes of Amy Winehouse and Charlie Watts, has decided to mark the occasion by collecting together his Scenes in the City combo and hitting the road, bringing the spirit of Mingus back into a live arena in the wake of last year's The Man Who Never Sleeps album of his music.
The six-piece Scenes in the City stroll onto the stage at Birmingham’s CBSO Centre, looking like a collection of groovy history teachers. Once Tony Kofi, Karen Sharp, Jeremy Price, Mark Edwards, Clark Tracey and Somogyi himself start playing their instruments, however, any comparison with the vision that tribute bands usually present is banished. Scenes in the City’s exquisite soloing and improvisation around a set of standards from the hard-bop/gospel nexus of the 1950s and early 1960s is a revelation.
Although this gig was supposed to celebrate two of Mingus’ albums from 1963, we only actually got one tune from The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady: the luscious “Hearts’ Beat”, which featured inspired contributions from both Mark Edwards’ piano and Jeremy Price’s trombone. Similarly, Scenes in the City only played two from Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus: “II B S”, which was powered by Tony Kofi’s insistent saxophone riff, and “Hora Decubitus”. For the rest of the show, we were treated to a choice pick of Mingus’ musical purple patch, which started with the Pithecanthropus Erectus album in 1956 and lasted until 1963. “Moanin’”, from 1959’s Blues And Roots album, and “So Long, Eric” (which Mingus wrote about long-term collaborator, Eric Dolphy), were played alongside “The Man Who Never Sleeps”, which was composed, but never recorded, by Mingus. All featured spectacular and insightful soloing by all members of the band – none of whom could have been accused of noodling for even one bar.
This evening, I only had one gripe about Scenes in the City. Without anyone being prepared to take on vocal duties, they weren’t able to give us the real deal of Mingus’ 1959 comment on the racism in America’s Deep South, “Fables of Faubus”, or 1962’s damnation of Cold War geo-politics, “Oh Lord! Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me”. Instead, we got instrumental versions, and so, missed out on the refrain of “Faubus” - “They brainwash and teach you hate” - and a true taste of the gospel-flavoured “Oh Lord!”. Nevertheless, these cats could certainly swing and anyone should be able to dig that.
OverleafL listen to "Solo Dancer" by Charles Mingus from his album The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
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