Rating: NNNN
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This is Mingus toward the end of his career but before ALS started seriously affecting his playing. The passion and fire of his earlier work are diminished, but he’s still playing up a storm and the band is pretty hot. In particular, Sue’s Changes is hypnotizing, flowing in and out of chaos and sentimentality. For the last two numbers the core group is joined by Gerry Mulligan and Benny Bailey, who both turn in great performances.
The sound quality is good considering how long ago this was recorded, but there are spots where the live mix is way off, and while George Adams’s sax disappears a few times, Mingus’s bass is too loud for the first half and kind of raspy-sounding. Ordinarily, that might lower the rating, but you can’t do much with a 30-year-old television feed, and the world can always use more Mingus.
