Charles Mingus didn’t want to do it. This was ’62, and he had a major project of his own on the boil; didn’t have the time. Of course he loved Duke Ellington: the man, his composing and his piano playing. Who didn’t? But it was Duke who’d fired him nine…
John Shand | Music & Other Spheres Posts
Drama theatre, November 6 5/10 Boxing Day should probably be called “sorry day”, so routinely do people vent feelings the day before that they wish they could retract. Boiling one’s blood in the furnace of an Australian summer while gorging on pigs, poultry and booze could almost seem an excuse,…
DIZZY ATMOSPHERE (Greenleaf) 7.5/10 Tribute albums and jazz mix about as well as oil and water. Jazz demands being oneself and, at the highest level, selflessness. Tribute albums imply the assumption of another’s characteristics. Trumpeter Dave Douglas now has considerable experience solving that conundrum, so his Dizzy Atmosphere is not…