by Don Berryman
In Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts is a 3-LP album that contains previously unreleased recordings from two 1977 concerts by Charles Mingus’ last band. The band was a quintet featuring Ricky Ford on tenor saxophone, Jack Walrath on trumpet, Bob Neloms on piano, and Dannie Richmond on drums. The LP set was produced by Resonance co-president Zev Feldman (a.k.a. The “Jazz Detective”). The 180-gram vinyl set has been transferred from the original tape reels recorded by engineer Carlos Melero, mastered by Matthew Lutthans at the Mastering Lab, and pressed at Le Vinylist. It is being released as a Record Store Day exclusive on April 12th, 2025. A two CD set will be released on April 18th along with a 24-bit/96kHz digital download on Bandcamp.
The recordings were made on June 2nd and 3rd, 1977, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. These concerts took place only six months before Mingus was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease), which would claim his life on Jan. 5, 1979. In Argentina is Charles Mingus’ final recording as a leader.
Charles Mingus was certainly one of the giants of jazz whose talents as a composer, performer, and band leader all came together with his touring bands. In the past few years some other previously unheard Charles Mingus recordings have been released. Five years ago, Charles Mingus @ Bremen 1964 & 1975, was released on Sunnyside and I included it in “20 from 2020 – New Music that Helped”. Charles Mingus’ album, The Lost Album from Ronnie Scott’s, that captured a performance from 1972 was released in 2022 by Resonance records [read my review here]. Charles MIngus’ European tours are well documented, but until In Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts, nothing official had been released from his 1977 South American tour.
The music on In Argentina are almost all from the Mingus book including his timeless standards. Two exceptions being Charlie Parker and Ray Noble’s “Koko/Cherokee” used as a break theme and a soulful and exuberant take of “For Harry Carney” which was written by Mingus’ arranger Sy Johnson after Carney’s death in 1974 and appeared on Mingus’ Changes Two album in 1975.
Mingus’ best known compositions “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” performed at the June 2nd concert and “Fables of Faubus” performed on June 3rd were both introduced on his 1959 masterpiece album Mingus Ah Um. Each was played up tempo and the Buenos Aires audiences clearly recognised and enthusiastically applauded. While each night featured a composition from that historic album, the bulk of the concert’s content was composed at least 15 years later. Mingus continued to compose throughout his life and many of these great compositions were performed on those two nights. Both “Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love” (written after the Duke’s death in 1974) and “Sue’s Changes” debuted on the album Changes One in 1974.
We also have live performances of compositions contemporaneous to the Buenos Aires concerts. “Noddin Ya Head Blues” and “Three or Four Shades of Blues” from the 1977 album Three or Four Shades of Blues both begin with superbly swinging walking bass solos. My absolute favorite track on this album is “Cumbia & Jazz Fusion” by the album of the same name recorded just a few months earlier in March of 1977. That album features two extended compositions written for the film Todo Modo by Mingus and performed by large ensembles. The quintet on In Argentina was also the core of the large ensembles that recorded the studio albums. That studio album is an underrated gem. But I think this live version of the title track is even better with sections of relentless driving rhythm and soaring solos melting into moments of quiet reflection.
Track Listing
SIDE A
- Introduction 0:40
- Goodbye Pork Pie Hat 7:27
- Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love 9:32
SIDE B
- Noddin’ Ya Head Blues 10:43
- Three or four Shades of Blue 10:00
- Koko/Cherokee 1:16 C. Parker/Atlantic Music Corp (BMI)
SIDE C
- For Harry Carney 13:29 S. Johnson/Sivert Productions, Inc. (ASCAP)
SIDE D
- Cumbia & Jazz Fusion 22:23
- Solo Piano Improvisation (Performed by Charles Mingus) 2:15
SIDE E
- Sue’s Changes [Incomplete] 18:00
- Koko/Cherokee/Band Intros 1:34 C. Parker/Atlantic Music Corp (BMI)
SIDE F
- Fables of Faubus 11:21
- Solo Piano Improvisation (Performed by Charles Mingus) 2:28
SIDES A, B, C & D – Recorded on June 2, 1977 at the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires, Argentina
SIDES E & F – Recorded on June 3, 1977 at the Teatro SHA (Sociedad Hebraica Argentina) in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Charles Mingus, Ricky Ford, Jack Walrath, Bob Neloms, and Charles Mingus- Photo by Uberto Sagramoso.
Original JazzPolice article: http://www.jazzpolice.com/archives/17358
