Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus
Bassist-composer Charles Mingus had a reputation for volatile  creativity and the ability to press his sidemen to their limits. That said, there's precious little in the Mingus canon that reaches the levels of intensity and unfettered invention of this extraordinary quartet session from November 1960. Mingus and saxophonistEric Dolphywere clearly at creative peaks. Mingus's open forms facilitate Dolphy's freedom, and Dolphy's virtuosity and vocal expressiveness (laughing, whinnying, crying, shrieking) on alto and bass clarinet lend Mingus the greatest solo voice his music ever enjoyed. They push the principle of musical dialogue to the point where speech seems about to break out on "Folk Forms No. 1" and in the bass-bass clarinet chatter and grieving of "What Love."In a way, speech does break out. "Original Faubus Fables," previously recorded as "Fables of Faubus" onMingus Ah Um, gets the lyrics earlier denied it by Columbia Records. Mingus and drummerDannie Richmonddamn Arkansas's notoriously racist governor, with the bassist calling out, "Why is he so sick and ridiculous, Dannie?" Richmond and trumpeterTed Cursonare excellent players and the sheer tumult carries them to the performances of their careers. Mingus's writing often uses tension-building repeated figures, and Dolphy and Curson virtually function as reed and brass sections at times. It contributes to the illusion of a much larger group, a cauldron of unspoken pain and fresh energies that seems almost too much for any quartet to deliver.A fifth performance from the session, an extended-band feature for Dolphy's alto onFats Waller's "Stormy Weather," has never been included on a CD with the rest of the session. Well worth seeking out, it currently appears onCandid Dolphy.--Stuart Broomer