Epitaph

Epitaph is the master work of Charles Mingus. It is a composition which is more than 4000 measures long, requires two hours to perform and was only compltely discovered during the cataloguing process after his death. With the help of a grant from the Ford Foundation, the score and instrumental parts were copied, and the piece itself was premiered by a 30-piece orchestra, conducted by Gunther Schuller, in a concert produced by Sue Mingus at Alice Tully Hall on June 3, 1989, ten years after Mingus' death.

Ground Breaking Work

The New Yorker wrote that "Epitaph" represents the first advance in jazz composition since Duke Ellington's "Black, Brown, and Beige," which was written in 1943. The New York Times said it ranked with the "most memorable jazz events of the decade". Convinced that it would never be performed in his lifetime, Mingus called his work "Epitaph" declaring that he wrote it "for my tombstone."

Ill fated attempt to record Epitaph

There was one ill-fated attempt to record some of this during Mingus' lifetime; a 1962 Town Hall concert. The title of the album is Town Hall Concert and has two tracks marked "Epitaph Pt. I" and Epitaph Pt. II", and other tracks including "Clark In the Dark", for trumpter Clark Terry who played in the band. Epitaph was never put into a coherent whole the way the posthumous "Epitaph" does.

The liner notes don't give much factual information; mostly historical background and descriptive info by critic Bill Coss. The Musicians included

• Charles Mingus - bass
• Eric Dolphy - alto sax
• Charles McPherson - alto sax
• Jerome Richardson - baritone sax
• Pepper Adams - baritone sax
• Clark Terry - trumpet
• Quentin Jackson - trombone
• Toshiko Mariano (nee Akiyoshi) - piano
• Dannie Richmond - drums

Certainly many musicians are missing from this list. The exact date is under some question; the liner notes say November 1962, but a Martin Williams review of the concert in Saturday Review (subsequently published in "Jazz Masters in Transition" and probably other Williams anthologies) says December. Other sources have given the date as the October 12, 1962. The liner notes get the order of the tunes wrong and fail to recognize "In a Mellow Tone" (it's labeled "Finale"), so the Williams review is probably more accurate. An review authored by Bill Coss subsequently appeared in the December 6, 1962 edition of Downbeat magazine titled simply "A Report of a Most Remarkable Event" (this was subsequently reprinted in the January 2005 edition of Downbeat ).

The gig was apparently incredibly disorganized. From the liner notes: "...this record represents a curious combination of open recording session and concert on a New York City Town Hall stage that held thirty musicians, two men still copying the music to be played, no play-back equipment, and a host of unbelievable tensions."

From Williams' review: "The occasion was supposed to have been a public recording date, but the producers' announcements and ads somehow came out reading 'concert.' At one point during the proceedings, Mingus shouted to his audience, advising, 'Get your money back!'"

From the Coss article: "The microphone Mingus grabbed had no amplificaiton, but what he said, more or less, was: "Get your money back. I couldn't stop you from coming here. The press agents lied to you. You've been taken advantage of. Go out now and get your money back. I don't want you to think I've done this to you. It was supposed to be a recording session, but Mr. George Wein, who is a fine promoter, changed it into a concert. So get your money back. The company has lots of money. It would take years to rehearse this music"."

The problems seem to have arosen because Mingus had piles of new music in his head, and wanted to stage an open rehearsal which United Artists and producer Alan Douglas wanted to record and release. Then UA moved up the date five weeks, Mingus kept writing even newer music while rehearsals were underway, the musicians were unprepared (the Coss article suggests that in three previous rehearsals not once piece had been played all the way through), and the audience - most of whom were apparently expecting a fully rehearsed concert rather than a taping session with false starts, retakes and edit pieces - was flabbergasted.

1990 CD Version

But after Mingus's death, the score to Epitaph was rediscovered, and his longtime associate Gunther Schuller put together an all-star orchestra to play this very demanding piece of music. As trumpeter Wynton Marsalis said, "You'll find Epitaph in the Etude Book, under Hard." The concert, at New York's Town Hall in 1989, was a triumph, if ten years too late for Charles Mingus to enjoy it. This was later released by Columbia/Sony Records.

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Main Score, Pt. 1
2. Percussion Discussion
3. Main Score, Pt. 2
4. Started Melody
5. Better Get Hit in Yo' Soul
6. Soul
7. Moods in Mambo
8. Self Portrait/Chill of Death
9. O.P. (Oscar Pettiford)
10. Please Don't Come Back from the Moon

Disc: 2

1. Monk, Bunk & Vice Versa
2. Peggy's Blue Skylight
3. Wolverine Blues
4. Children's Hour of Dream
5. Ballad (In Other Words, I Am There)
6. Freedom
7. Interlude (The Underdog Rising)
8. Noon Night
9. Main Score Reprise

Personnel

There is a long list of personnel involved in this album

• John Abercrombie - Guitar
• George Adams - Saxophone, Sax (Tenor)
• Karl Berger - Vibraphone, Vibes, cowbell
• Eddie Bert - Trombone
• Phil Bodner - Clarinet, Horn (English), Oboe, Sax (Tenor)
• Urbie Green - Trombone
• John Handy - Sax (Alto), Doubling Clarinet
• John Hicks - Piano
• Charles Mingus - Bass
• Jerome Richardson - Saxophone, Sax (Alto), Doubling Clarinet
• Lew Soloff - Trumpet
• Jack Walrath - Trumpet
• Bobby Watson - Clarinet, Flute, Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano)
• Reggie Johnson - Bass
• Joe Wilder - Trumpet
• Victor Lewis - Drums
• Gary Smulyan - Sax (Baritone), Doubling Clarinet
• David Taylor - Trombone
• Britt Woodman - Trombone
• Ed Schuller - Bass, Guiro
• Randy Brecker - Trumpet
• Sam Burtis - Trombone
• Don Butterfield - Tuba
• Daniel Druckman - Percussion, Tumba
• Paul Faulise - Trombone, Trombone (Bass)
• Sir Roland Hanna - Piano
• Dale Kleps - Flute, Clarinet (Contrabass)
• Wynton Marsalis - Trumpet
• John McClure - Producer, Engineer, Editing, Mixing
• Vladimir Meller - Mastering
• Sue Mingus - Producer, Photography
• Charles Peterson - Photography
• Michael Rabinowitz - Bass, Bassoon, Clarinet (Bass)
• Roger Rosenberg - Flute, Piccolo, Sax (Baritone), Doubling Clarinet
• Gunther Schuller - Conductor, Producer, Liner Notes, Editing
• Snooky Young- Trumpet
• Allen Weinberg - Art Direction, Design
• David Gahr - Photography
• Andrew Homzy - Liner Notes