A weekend ofjazz
BEYOND ALL the myths, the talk about a hot-headed,
unpredictable teacher, and the grumbling of a frustrated
composer who claimed that Charle Parker stole the credit he
deserved, there was Charles Mingus the bass player. It so often
got lost in the controversy that swam around him, but it was
nonetheless true-Mingus was a remarkable instrumen-
talist.
Mingus would have been happy with the lineup of
musicians that appeared at last weekend's Mingus jazz
festival, sponsored by Eclipse Jazz. There was Charlie
Haden on the Hill Auditorium stage, the person many con-
sider to be the greatest living jazz bassist. There were a pair
of musicians from the Art Ensemble of Chicgo, Joseph Jar-
man and Don Moye, performing an arcobatic and
exhilerating pair of duets. There was that bopster of the
/ spaceways, Sun Ra, playing, of course, with his Solar
Arkestra. Arid there was more.
What there was most of all, though, was good jazz every-
where. The Mingus Dynasty Band held a workshop Saturday
Doily Photo by LISA UDELSON afternoon, radio station WCBN did extensive features on the
artists, and all over town people walked around with the
music in their heads.
Unlike last year's unweildly jazz marathon, the Mingus
festival was extended over only three evenings, and each
show displayed the talents of two acts, instead of three. But
the variety that last year's festival thrived on (a diversity
which is Eclipse's hallmark) continued in undiminished
fashion. It was a diversity Mingus would have been proud of,
for it was like the diversity he sought within his various units.
It was one that spanned bebop to avante-garde, so often at the
same time.
And when it was all over, what was there left to say but
"bring on next year's festival!"?
Dailyy Photo by MAUREEN O'MALLEY
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Daily Photo by MAUREEN O'MALLEY

Daily Photo by MAUREEN O'MALLEY

Daily Photo by PAUL ENGSTROM

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