Sunday, January 15, 2012

One of the four greatest bands in the land, circa 1964 that you may have missed

Submitted:  1964 was a watershed year for popular music.
Submitted: the four most significant bands to emerge in 1964 were ... 
Meditations on Integration

Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk

....The (second) Miles Davis Quintet with Hancock, Shorter, Carter and Williams, 
The John Coltrane Quartet with Tyner, Jones and Garrison, 
The Beatles (can't remember the personnel) and

The Charles Mingus Septet with Eric Dolphy, Jaki Byard, Booker Ervin, and Danny Richmond. 

Each of these bands stand among the most vital and influential in any genre of music from their day to this. 

The Mingus band is the least well known among them, which is a major injustice as it featured two of the greatest innovators in jazz history in Mingus on bass and compositions and the multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy, as well as another first rank Hall of Famer in pianist Jaki Byard, and perennial all stars Booker Ervin on tenor and Danny Richmond on drums. Their legacy is virtually unparalleled and they are deserving of a wider and extended hearing.

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