Summary
The Complete Town Hall Concert is a live album by the American bassist, composer and bandleader Charles Mingus, recorded at The Town Hall in New York City and first released on the United Artists label in 1962 as Town Hall Concert.[1] The album was rereleased with additional tracks on the Blue Note label in 1994 as The Complete Town Hall Concert.[2]
| The Complete Town Hall Concert | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Live album by | ||||
| Released | 1962 1994 CD reissue with bonus tracks | |||
| Recorded | October 12, 1962 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Label | United Artists UAJ 14024 Blue Note CDP 7243 | |||
| Charles Mingus chronology | ||||
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| Original Album Cover | ||||
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The concert was originally conceived as a "live workshop" of newly composed music which would be recorded for release by United Artists but rescheduling, lack of rehearsal time, poor sound and interruptions led to the event and subsequent album being considered a disaster.[3] Much of the music intended for the concert/recording was finally realized by conductor Gunther Schuller in a concert in 1989 as Epitaph.
Reception edit
The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow stated: "Charles Mingus's Town Hall Concert has long been considered a famous fiasco, and the original United Artists LP (which contained just 36 minutes of music and did not bother identifying the personnel) made matters worse. But this 1994 Blue Note CD does its best to clean up the mess".[4]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [6] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [5] |
Track listing edit
All compositions by Charles Mingus except as indicated
- "Freedom Part 1" - 3:47
- "Freedom Part 2" - 3:14
- "Osmotin'" - 2:50 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "Epitaph Part 1" - 7:03
- "Peggy's Blue Skylight" - 5:21 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "Epitaph Part 2" - 5:10
- "My Search" - 8:09
- "Portrait" - 4:34 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "Duke's Choice" - 5:12
- "Please Don't Come Back from the Moon" - 7:24 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "In a Mellow Tone" (Duke Ellington, Milt Gabler) - 8:21
- "Epitaph Part 1" [alternate take] - 7:23 Bonus track on CD reissue
Personnel edit
- Charles Mingus - bass, narration
- Ed Armour, Rolf Ericson, Lonnie Hillyer, Ernie Royal, Clark Terry, Richard Williams, Snooky Young - trumpet
- Eddie Bert, Jimmy Cleveland, Willie Dennis, Paul Faulise, Quentin Jackson, Britt Woodman - trombone
- Romeo Penque - oboe
- Danny Bank - bass clarinet
- Buddy Collette, Eric Dolphy, Charlie Mariano, Charles McPherson - alto saxophone
- George Berg, Zoot Sims - tenor saxophone
- Pepper Adams, Jerome Richardson - baritone saxophone
- Warren Smith - vibraphone, percussion
- Toshiko Akiyoshi, Jaki Byard – piano
- Les Spann - guitar
- Milt Hinton - bass
- Dannie Richmond - drums
- Grady Tate - percussion
- Bob Hammer, Gene Roland - arranger
- Melba Liston - arranger, conductor
References edit
- ^ Charles Mingus discography accessed November 29, 2012
- ^ Charles Mingus discography accessed November 29, 2012
- ^ Gene Santoro (2000-06-06). "Town Hall Train Wreck". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2012-11-29.
- ^ a b Yanow, S. AllMusic Review accessed November 29, 2012
- ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 140. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1003. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.