Artist: Charles Mingus
Piece: II B.S.
CD: Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus
“II B.S.” is a slightly different – shorter and more concentrated – version of the “Haitian Fight Song” Mingus recorded with a smaller band on the LP “The Clown”, in 1957.
It is a great example of his sense of construction: dynamic, powerful bass intro, after which each instrument comes in, building the melody and harmony by touches with a strong, Ellington inspired “jungle” feeling.
Booker Ervin’s tenor solo is the climax of this “battle song”, that manages to be both supremely organized and bubbling with spontaneity, thanks to Mingus’ writing and to the backbone his bass and Perkins’ drums offer their colleagues all the way through.
Please listen to it here:
… and/or all the week from May 8th to May 14th, 2023 at 06:00am & at 08:00pm (Paris time) on Couleurs Jazz Radio.
Musicians:
Charles Mingus: bass, composition
Eddie Preston, Richard Williams: trumpet
Britt Woodman: trombone
Don Butterfield: tuba
Jerome Richardson, Dick Hafer, Eric Dolphy : reeds, flutes
Booker Ervin: tenor sax
Jaki Byard: piano
Walter Perkins: drums
The album Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus was released in 1963 by Impulse Records
RECENT COMMENTS