This two-record set is the last remnant of Mingus' brave and profoundly mad attempt to revive for a time the Big Band format. In February, 1972, he gathered 22 of the best working jazzmen in New York, including the members of his own quintet and special friends Gene Ammons, Dizzy Gillespie, Gerry Mulligan and Randy Weston, and sold out Philharmonic Hall on a freezing winter night. The concert was Mingus' first appearance on a New York stage in ten years and from first note to last was an eclectic, jumbled, confusing affair. The producer and master of ceremonies, Bill Cosby, patronized Mingus' audience and distracted the musicians with his buffoonery. Vocalist Honey Gordon was undermiked and inaudible. There was confusion among the under-rehearsed musicians about the order of solos, and there was a general complaint that Mingus didn't make enough display of his artistry on the bass. In spite of all these headaches, this selectively edited and I suspect heavily remixed version of the concert is a gas, at once a tribute to the genius and vision of Mingus and a fine modern Big Band recording.

The program consists of a general Mingus retrospective retooled for the large ensemble, combined with single numbers and suites that Mingus wrote especially for the big band. Classics such as "Jump Monk," "Ecclusiastics" and "E's Flat" are all given new arrangements and sound fresh and ripe. The featured soloist on all three is Gene Ammons on tenor, playing a husky bluesy mix to which the audience often responded audibly. Also to be found here is the rarely played "Eclipse," the deep blue, sexually earthy ballad that Mingus wrote for Billie Holiday. Honey Gordon's deep alto is a sharp contrast to Holiday's style, but she combines with the lowing instrumental section to make this one of the highlights of the album.

What makes this set worth the price of admission is a little mingling of Mingusiana with Ellingtonia called "Us Is Two"; it was the theme that Mingus wrote for his big band and for some reason didn't put on the unsuccessful orchestral album Let My Children Hear Music. It's a gorgeous and swinging trifle with sensation, definitely one of the most pleasing tunes that Mingus has ever composed and it's evident that the musicians liked it too, as it gets the most rousing performance of the night.

This isn't one of Mingus' best albums and is the other direction from the jazz avant-garde, but this music is just fun to get high with and a good look at the latest chapter of the never dull adventures of Charles Mingus. And check out Gene Ammons—to these ears it's the best recording he's ever made. (RS 135)

STEPHEN DAVIS