Charles Mingus

Mingus At Antibes

The fleet group that Charles Mingus brought to the Antibes jazz
festival in 1960 was likely the most powerful group, pound-for-pound,
that the bassist ever led. The front line was comprised of trumpeter
Ted Curson, alto saxophonist Eric Dolphy, and, for this stint, tenor
saxophonist Booker Ervin. Without a piano for most of this Antibes
concert, the band relied on a combustion that Mingus created with his
antiphonal compositions and a gospel bent. Dolphy, Curson, and Ervin
sound jubilant on "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting" and then full of
longing on "Prayer for Passive Resistance." But it's on "Folk Forms I"
that you hear how much leap the group has without a formal harmonic
anchor. Mingus chugs along, using his lowest-end bustle as a backbone
for rhythmic variations across the top. As usual, drummer Dannie
Richmond cracks the percussion with speed-shifting exactness. As if
that all weren't enough, one of bebop's quirkier architects, Bud
Powell, joins the band for a touching read of "I'll Remember April." Andrew Bartlett