We just returned from seeing the The Mingus Big Band perform. I’ve never seen the music of Mingus performed live so I was especially ecstatic and pleased with the insanely great performance. The band brought in fourteen pieces and really kicked some ass. Fables of Faubus was fantastic and featured the spoken word accompaniment that, if I recall correctly, was never released on record. The song is a whimsical, mocking condemnation of Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas who called out the National Guard to prevent Little Rock’s Central High from integrating. Columbia records wouldn’t let Mingus sing the lyrics on his now legendary and canonical album Mingus Ah Um. Mingus and his drummer Dannie Richmond supposedly sang the lyrics, barely audibly, in the background during the recording session. I, however, can’t hear anything. The lyrics were very critical of Faubus and were presented as a dialogue between Mingus and Richmond. Here they are.

Oh, Lord, don’t let ‘em shoot us!
Oh, Lord, don’t let ‘em stab us!
Oh, Lord, don’t let ‘em tar and feather us!
Oh, Lord, no more swastikas!
Oh, Lord, no more Ku Klux Klan!
Name me someone who’s ridiculous, Dannie.
Governor Faubus!
Why is he so sick and ridiculous?
He won’t permit integrated schools.
Then he’s a fool!
Boo! Nazi Fascist supremists!
Boo! Ku Klux Klan (with your Jim Crow plan)
Name me a handful that’s ridiculous, Dannie Richmond.
-Faubus-Rockefeller-Eisenhower
Why are they so sick and ridiculous?
Two, four, six, eight: They brainwash and teach you hate.
H-E-L-L-O–Hello.

The band also tore into Oh Lord, Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me, which also features lyrics. The lyrics are sung scat style with lines such as “Don’t drop it. Stop it. Bebop it.” Trombonist Frank Lacy stood up to deliver the gospel tinged vocals and really got down. He was getting his church on.

Speaking of trombones, the Mingus Big Band featured them prominently. They tended to be ignored by Jazz after the early New Orleans period. Mingus, however, featured the trombone. Trombone was the first instrument he ever played, and he never forgot it. Trombones are all over his recordings and are used nicely on The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady. I enjoy the uniquely extended ability of trombones to slide and bend notes.

The ballad Diane/Alice in Wonderland was exceptionally beautiful and a nice contrast to the up tempo gospel tinged numbers such as the aforementioned Don’t Let Them Drop that Bomb and Better Git It in Your Soul.

So Long Eric, Mingus’ lament over the departure of Eric Dolphy from the band, started with the bass and drums trading measures and then proceeded to get a serious groove on. Dolphy died in Amsterdam a few months after Mingus wrote the song, which gave it a special poignancy then and now.

Here’s the set list, as best as I can recall. I’ve left out some, I’m sure. The songs are followed by the Mingus’ album on which they appeared.

Moanin’ – Blues and Roots
Invisible Lady – Oh Yeah
Diane – Mingus Dynasty
Fables of Faubus – Mingus Ah Um
Better Git It In Your Soul – Mingus Ah Um
So Long Eric – Revenge!
E’s Flat Ah’s Flat Too – Blues and Roots
Oh Lord, Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me – Oh Yeah