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Tá Lam 11
Mingus!
Jazzwerkstatt 105
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Bass clarinetist/soprano saxophonist Gebhard
Ullmann and his mostly reed-based aggregate
present a portrait of Charles Mingus in a variety
of colors: some, but not all of them, bold.
Add to that palette more than a bit of impressionism,
as these expertly arranged deliveries
(most by Ullmann) contribute a new understanding
and viewpoint on Mingus’ incredible corpus.
In other words, it ain’t all straight up and
down as we journey forth through eight reinterpreted
songs, from titles like the earthy, soulful
“Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting” (ingeniously
medley-d with the more rowdy “Boogie Stop
Shuffle”) to a mind-shuffling alternate universe
of colors with “Reincarnation Of A Lovebird,”
the theme only hinted at toward the very end.
Listening to Tá Lam 11’s Mingus! does not
require that one be a Mingus fan, or even a fan
of instrument-based music. In fact, listening to
their haunting re-imagining of “Reincarnation
Of A Lovebird,” one might surmise that this
music is just as much about this group as it is
about Mingus, the unified field of this saxophonic
blend over one chord pointing toward the integration
of sounds, the musical connections the 11
musicians must have with each other.
Mingus! reminds listeners that Mingus’
music was heavily saxophone-based. So it was
just a short walk for this band to jump in and
explore. In each case, apart from sandwiching
theme statements, there are rumination, fantasias
and reveries. And the occasional hiccup of Hans
Hassler’s accordion, which opens the whole shebang
with the solemn, almost classical “Canon.”
Clearly, this band is in love with this music,
which, in case anyone was wondering, is also
played with resonant ferocity. —John Ephland
Mingus!: Canon; Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting/Boogie Stop
Shuffle; Fables Of Faubus; Eclipse; Jelly Roll; Self-Portrait In Three
Colors; Nostalgia In Times Square; Reincarnation Of A Lovebird.
(61:33)
Personnel: Gebhard Ullmann, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone;
Hinrich Beermann, baritone saxophone; Daniel Erdmann, Vladimir
Karparov, tenor saxophone; Juergen Kupke, clarinet; Joachim
Litty, Heiner Reinhardt, bass clarinet; Volker Schlott, alto, soprano
saxophones; Michael Thieke, clarinet, alto clarinet; Benjamin Weidekamp,
alto saxophone, clarinet; Hans Hassler, accordion.
Ordering info: records-cd.com
DECEMBER 2011 DOWNBEAT 95