Live At The Village Vanguard - Vol.1

We Say...

Review by Britt Robson

Saxophonist George Adams and pianist Don Pullen were integral to the last great ensemble led by Charles Mingus because they could play with distinctively explosive emotion yet had a refined appreciation for harmony and a natural affinity for gospel and the blues. When Mingus passed, co-leading a quartet with Mingus stalwart Dannie Richmond on drums (and bassist Cameron Brown rounding out the group) was the logical pivot forward.

The first of the band's two live collections from the Vanguard is a favorite because it has the ensemble lovably running faster than their legs can carry them on a raggedy-split rendition of Pullen's "Necessary Blues," then turning in resplendent performances on the next three numbers, including two exquisitely calibrated ballads that rebut the notion that ferocity was their sole source of power.

On Duke Ellington's "Solitude," Adams begins with a typically dank (he's always referred to as "earthy") solo, then caresses the creamy melody, later returning with a high-pitched tone and quicksilver modulation that sounds much like a violin. The closing number "Diane," long associated with Mingus, takes a brisk 50-second prelude before launching into the gorgeous, tender theme. This unabashedly romantic side of Adams/Pullen was too often unexplored, and thus ignored. The middle number, Adams's "Intentions," is a choice example of the pyrotechnics the quartet could conjure in a live setting. Pullen is especially memorable here (and on "Diane"), a wild amalgam of Cecil Taylor and Liberace in the way he sprays brittle note clusters in a manner that pleases free-jazzers without ever losing the punch of blues and soul music. Richmond, Adams and Pullen passed in 1988, '92 and '95, respectively. But for most of the 1980s, they were the first, and among the very best, of the Mingus torch-bearers.