colors, his anger, his darting mood swings, and, ical blues progression. most importantly, his aesthetic. Mingus was a In fact, the blues is omni-present on Sound tough, tough person, exceptionally gifted, per- ofjazz. Multi-reedman Jimmy Guiffre can be haps agenius, traits that, by all accounts, made heard first in "Blues," arranged as atwo-clarinet him difficult if not impossible to not only be quartet episode also featuring , around for any length of time, but also to please guitarist Danny Baker, and drummer . Epitaph challenges, requiring several listen- Sparse in presentation, the All-Stars, throughs; in the end, the mammoth work en- buoyed by aboorningfirtuny Rushing, counter- thralls. Delivered with the utmost care, Epitaph punch with arendition of "I Left My Baby," a fully captures and breathes life into Mingus's composition reminiscent of "St. James Infirmary' spirit. —Jon W. Poses Sound ofjazz, aseemingly odd mix of old and new, traditional and modem, small group VARIOUS ARTISTS: The Sound ofJazz and , instrumental and vocal, repre- , , vocals; Henry "Red" Allen, , Doc Cheatham, , Rex sents one of those magical and irreplaceable Stewart, trumpet; Pee Wee Russell, clarinet; Harry Car- moments in history that, thankfully, has ney, , Earl Warren, Ben Webster, been preserved. —Jon W. Poses , tenor sax; Jimmy Guiffre, baritone & tenor sax, clarinet; Vic Dickenson, , Dickie Wells, trombone; Danny Barker, , Jim Hall, guitar; Count Basie, , Mal Waldron, Rock piano; Jim Atlas, Milt Hinton, Eddie Jones, bass; Jo Joncs, drums LOU REEDOOHN CALE: Songs for Drella Columbia C 45234 (LP), CK 45234 (CD). Larry Keyes, Sire 26205-1 (LP), -2 (CD). Lou Reed, John Cale, prods.; eng.; Irving lbwnsend, George Avaldan, original prods.; Jeremy Darby, eng. AAA/ADD. TT: 54:55 Michael Brooks, digital prod. AAA/AAD. 42:05 BRIAN ENOOOHN CALE: Wrong Way Up Opal 926421-1 (LP), -2 (CD). Brian Eno, John Cale, prods.; In the midst of reuing ahuge body of material— Brian Eno, eng. AAA/AAD. Ti': 41:52 much of it exceptional—Columbia is releasing what it's calling its Jazz Masterpieces series. If you never knew masterwork editions like Some time ago, and still worth noting for its 1972's The Academy in Peril and home in on historical significance, CBS released Sound of ill-recorded pomposities like last year's Words Jazz, acompilation from the famed CBS-TV live for the Dying, it would be easy to conclude that broadcast aired originally Dec. 8, 1957. John Cale is simply today's classiest seedy side- Given the time frame, just slightly beyond man. Reeling around grimy Downtown gigs the passage of the Civil Rights Bill, this was an like adeath's-head, Cale comes off like ahas- amazing collection of mostly black musicians been Boho who reads music, wheeled in to placed in one spot, showcased to the entire spruce up aproject's tone for New Ibrk Times country In hindsight, looking back some three arts reviewers. Rock and roll never forgets. decades later, it's obvious that it would be sacri- Even if it was Andy Warhol ("Drella" to his legious to pass up such an opportunity to simul- pals, in acorruption of "Cinderella" and "Dread- taneously present the saxophone entity of ful") who talent-spotted the Welsh classical vio- Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Lester list and put him to work with bad boy Lou Reed Young, not to mention the VOCAlisP of Billie Holi- in The Velvet Underground—Cale proved then day and Jirruriy Rushing, and the Count Basie All- and Cale proves now he's nobody's fifth wheel. Stars during one of its most fertile periods. His compositional and performance skills Suffice to say, this is afine collection, immensely move these albums from the realm of bijou cleaned up via the digital process and available toys, amemento mon to one pop cultural icon in all three formats. Among the highlights here, and the stylized pop ruminations of another, Holiday leading the 10-piece Mal Waldron All- into works of genuine artistic merit. Stars in asultry reading of "Fine and Mellow." You'd be hard pressed to say who's the worse While Young's solo may have been off, Webster vocalist, Cale or Lou Reed, but both snatch vic- and Hawkins more than make up for it; Lady tory from the jaws of defeat. Reed has learned Day still sounds rich, and lesser-known bassist to chant and shout, Cale has learned to read Jim Atlas anchors the seductive, slow blues. poetry. Both styles are used to good effect here. Waldron, Holiday's last accompanist, and an Songs for Drella, apainfully wrought funeral expatriate for more than aquarter-century, left oration to Andy Warhol, contains something the country after noteworthy stints with John pretty rare in modem music: genuine feeling. Coltrane and, subsequently, Charles Mingus. Drella is as live as anight haunt can be; in com- Here he shines, not only as abandleader but ing to terms with what Warhol was in their also as asoloist, heard on his modern-sounding lives, both men wake to discover that they "Nervous," which stylistically melds his angu- really have summoned the ghost ofJulius Cae- lar fluidity with boogie-woogie, set in an atyp- sar the night before the battle.

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