Charles Mingus - In Paris: The Complete America Session

Thankfully, the brains behind this double-disc reissue of two almost forgotten 1970 sessions determined that the first CD should be simply the six tracks originally released on the America label. The false starts and incomplete and alternate takes are left for the second disc. This way, the album closes properly – in a fit of passion, with Mingus's sextet spinning intense yarns out of "Pithecanthropus Erectus," a tune un-recorded in the studio since 1956. Here, Jaki Byard gets a midnight solo, wobbling on the rails between his well-known clustering talent and his deeply lyrical bent. Bobby Jones on tenor, Charles McPherson on alto, and Eddie Preston on trumpet offer a variety of predispositions, mostly post-bop but certainly aware of the tonal advances Eric Dolphy made with Mingus. "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" is lovely, slightly tense – which helps with the drama, and "Peggy's Blue Skylight" is dynamic and lazily vigorous. As for the second disc, it's instructional in how Mingus the bandleader thought and led: beyond that, it's for the initiates only. Keep in mind that these tunes comprise the first studio album Mingus made after Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus and show the bassist returning to the forge, readying himself for the great stuff yet to come with George Adams and Don Pullen. –Andrew Bartlett

This was recorded on October 31st 1970 in a single, sleepless night, the fleeting space of a session that took place almost undetected, and in a sort of urgent calm. The scene was a deserted Decca studio on the rue Beaujon, a stone's throw from the Champs-Élysées. From both a historical and a musical standpoint, this unexpected session it was anything but premeditated undeniably stands apart in the bassist's work; originally released as two records (Pithycanthropus Erectus and Blue Bird), and here reissued for the first time in its entire, intimate dramaturgy, the recordings constitute precious and moving testimony to one of the least-documented periods of his exceptional career; with hindsight, it was a period that saw the decisive moment when, after years of doubt and silence, Mingus found a new confidence, and his faith in his music; it was the instant when he began his final, creative resurrection. – Amazon

Tracklisting:

CD1
1. I Left My Heart In San Francisco
2. Reincarnation of a Lovebird
3. Peggy's Blue Skylight
4. Love Is a Dangerous Necessity
5. Blue Bird
6. Pithecanthropus Erectus

CD2
1. Reincarnation of a Lovebird: Warm Up and First False Start
2. Reincarnation of a Lovebird: Second False Start
3. Reincarnation of a Lovebird: Third False Start
4. Reincarnation of a Lovebird: Incomplete
5. Peggy's Blue Skylight: First False Start
6. Peggy's Blue Skylight: Second False Start
7. Peggy's Blue Skylight: Third False Start and Rehearsal
8. Peggy's Blue Skylight: Alternate (Fast Version)
9. Blue Bird: Incomplete
10. Reprise
11. Love Is a Dangerous Necessity: First False Start
12. Love Is a Dangerous Necessity: Second False Start
13. Pithecanthropus Erectus: First Take, Incomplete
14. Pithecanthropus Erectus: Reprise
15. Pithecanthropus Erectus: Rehearsal
16. Pithecanthropus Erectus: False Start
17. Pithecanthropus Erectus: To the End
18. Pithecanthropus Erectus: Mingus Explanations, Restart

Artists:
Charles Mingus: Double bass
Eddie Preston: Trumpet
Charles McPherson: Alto saxophone
Bobby Jones: Tenor saxophone
Jaki Byard: Piano
Dannie Richmond: Drums

Recording Information:
Recorded on October 31, 1970 at the Studio at the Studio Decca, Paris
Produced by Pierre Jaubert for America/Musidisc Europe
Sound Engineer: J.C. Egreteau
Transfers and Mastering by Olivier Saint-Yves, Universal Studios, Paris

Download Links:

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Rapidshare (200 MB + 200 MB + 200 MB + 144 MB): Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4