From: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V2012 #19 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Unsubscribe:mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe Website:http://jonimitchell.com JMDL Digest Saturday, January 21 2012 Volume 2012 : Number 019 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Review of Mingus Concert from last night. [Merk54@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:32:39 -0500 (EST) From: Merk54@aol.com Subject: Review of Mingus Concert from last night. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... Well, despite the blizzard conditions, I made my way to the Harris Theater last night to see the Chicago Jazz Ensemble put on a Charles Mingus concert. From the CJE's website: The program takes its inspiration from the last album Mingus made before his death at the age of 56 b his 1978 collaboration with pop genius _Joni Mitchell_ (http://jonimitchell.com/) , the album Mingus, which mixed pop, jazz fusion, and Mitchellbs vocals in a valedictory celebration of his life. That description might also apply to singer, rapper, and electric bassist Ndegeocello, who has earned 10 Grammy nominations for her genre-hopping artistry. bMeshell is a great collaborator, just as Mingus was with Joni,b explains Artistic Director Dana Hall. bI think there are a lot of ways we can explore that music, and also the other music where Joni reflects her interest in jazz. Webll be re-imagining Mingus for the 21st century, not just replaying the album.b I was so looking forward to this show. My wife begged me not to go because of the weather, but I told I would take the train downtown so it shouldn't be too bad. Well unfortunately the theater is a mile and half from the train station, and because of the weather it was impossible to get a cab, so I had to walk to the theater in blizzard like conditions. With bad knees, a sore hip and miserable weather, this was one hell of a walk. But the concert was going to be great so I kept moving on. Finally, I made it to the theater, got settled in my seat, and opened the program. Imagine my outrage when I realized the only song they were going to do off of Mingus was Goodbye Pork Pie Hat! If I hadn't just about killed myself getting to the theater, I would have asked for my money back and left the theater. I decided to take a deep breath, sit back and try and enjoy the show. Fortunately, it was a great show. The CJE was excellent. Aside from Joni's album, I'm not terribly familiar with Mingus' work, but this concert was very enjoyable. This was very complex music that was brilliantly played by the CJE. Ironically, GPPH was the worse song of the night. The instrumentation was fine, but Meshell's singing just didn't do anything for the song. Maybe that's why they didn't do more Joni stuff. Who knows. So in keeping with Joni's constant message of duality, I loved this show, I hated this show. Actually I didn't hate it, but I was outraged by the false advertisement of what the show was going to be. And as much as I enjoyed the show, I wouldn't have risked life and limb for it had I known the truth. And if I was Joni, and they used my name so blatantly to promote this concert (the CJE website, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Suntimes), and then they only did one song of mine, I would be furious. Jack ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V2012 #19 **************************** ------- To post messages to the list, send tojoni@smoe.org. Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe -------