Dublin Jazz Week continued with Viva Mingus!, a kind of mixed media event at the IFC last night combining Beneath The Underdog, a documentary of Charles Mingus, with a concert of the late, great bassist and composer's music.
If Don McGlynn's film was long on affection and somewhat short on illumination, it was nevertheless capable of giving a feel for the volcanic, the political and the romantic elements of Mingus's complex, many-faceted personality. As such, it was an ideal prelude for a live performance of his music, given by Gerry Godley's group, Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting - the name, by the way, comes from one of Mingus's compositions.
The octet, with Godley (baritone), Michael Buckley (tenor), Jim Farley (alto/clarinet), Karl Ronan and Barry McBrien (trombones), Justin Carroll (piano), Dave Fleming (bass) and Conor Guilfoyle (drums), was much changed since I last heard them, so a degree of roughness in the often complex ensembles was, perhaps, inevitable.
But Mingus's music, never clinical and always wearing its heart on its sleeve, can stand some looseness; ultimately, the feeling is what counts, and the band gradually built up a head of steam over the opening Nostalgia In Times Square and Moanin' - on the last, they got through some impressive contrapuntal writing and beautifully observed dynamics. The slow, all ensemble, Self Portrait In Three Colours, was nicely done for the most part, but this turned out to be an appetiser for what happened next.
On Fables Of Faubus, so named after the segregationist governor of Arkansas, the band captured the satirical edge the composer gave the piece, amid excellent solos by baritone, tenor (notwithstanding a cheekily inappropriate Autumn Leaves quote) and bass.
The next composition, Pussy Cat Dues, upped the ante even further with a superb clarinet solo, supported beautifully by drums and piano.
Finally, a well-judged and sustained solo tenor provided a segue into one of the loveliest of all the bassist's pieces, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, a valediction to the great tenor, Lester Young, and a gorgeous tenor solo. With more time on the music this band would be even better, but this will more than do for the moment.
