{"id":14938,"date":"2022-09-08T09:43:51","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T14:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?p=14938"},"modified":"2022-09-08T09:43:51","modified_gmt":"2022-09-08T14:43:51","slug":"a-jazz-giant-speaks-to-our-times-on-ethan-philions-meditations-on-mingus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?p=14938","title":{"rendered":"A jazz giant speaks to our times on Ethan Philion’s “Meditations on Mingus”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Fb-Button\"\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
<\/fb:like><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>

\"\"<\/p>\n

Album review: Ethan Philion Meditations on Mingus<\/em> (Sunnyside)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ethan Philion will present the full-ensemble \u201cMeditations on Mingus\u201d at the Chicago Jazz Festival on Sept. 2, and at the North Street Cabaret in Madison on Sept. 10, and a quartet version at Bar Centro in Milwaukee on Sept. 11.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Imagine a sculptor laboring over the Mount Rushmore of modern jazz giants and, somehow, forgetting about Charles Mingus. Through some boisterous psychic phenomenon, Mingus would barge into the artist’s consciousness and muscle his way into the layout of great granite figures. Mingus had a personality as large as his talents, and his social consciousness. These qualities all arise in a simmering stew called Meditations on Mingus<\/em> by Chicago bassist-arranger and bandleader Ethan Philion.<\/p>\n

Key to this project\u2019s accomplishment is Philion understanding how pointedly Mingus\u2019s 1960s music addresses America\u2019s open societal wounds and flaws of today. This 10-piece band (including Milwaukee trumpeter Russ Johnson) bristles, wails, and swings like a 10-headed-demon inspired by the jazz gods. Mingus emerged from jazz god Ellington, retaining The Duke\u2019s gifts for lyricism and fine detail. Yet Mingus upped the quotient of fiery, chest-pounding large-ensemble jazz.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ethan Philion’s Mingus Big Band live at the Green Mill in Chicago. Courtesy ethanpilion.com<\/em><\/p>\n

For example, on the opening \u201cOnce Upon a Time in a Holding Corporation called Old America,\u201d the music ripples and reaches for the sky while keeping its collective feet deep in the funky earth. It evokes the profound income inequality that is worse today than ever. \u201cHaitian Fight Song\u201d boils and stomps, exemplifying how Mingus horn ensembles could mutate into one strangely beautiful creature of defiance.<\/p>\n

\u201cPithecanthropus Erectus\u201d is a striking musical portrait of homo sapiens rising from ape to human; it\u2019s superbly orchestrated myriad voices, from cacophony to harmonized reason (and back), comments on the struggles of \u201cman\u201d to truly achieve humanity. Philion\u2019s liner notes include an ominous Mingus quote to help signify the tune: \u201cHis own failure to realize the inevitable emancipation of those he sought to enslave\u2026deny him not only the right of ever being a man, but finally destroy him completely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Bassist-arranger-bandleader Ethan Philion with trumpeter Victor Garcia. Courtesy Ethan Philion<\/em><\/p>\n

Blues-infused, mournful and dramatic, \u201cMeditation on a Pair of Wire Cutters\u201d is a vivid small-picture evocation of a man\u2019s incarceration, strengthened and sustained by dreams of freedom.<\/p>\n

By contrast, \u201cRemember Rockefeller at Attica,\u201d is an ironically titled big picture on prison\u2019s institutional racism. In 1971, New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller notoriously rejected a requested visit to Attica Prison to address the black inmates\u2019 grievances, thus spurring a prison uprising, which 1,000 white state troopers smashed by killing 33 inmates and 10 hostages. President Richard Nixon spun the tragedy as a triumph of governmental justice. Medical examiners confirmed that all but the deaths of one officer and three inmates were caused by law enforcement gunfire.[1]<\/a><\/sup>[10]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The New York Times<\/a><\/i> writer Fred Ferretti said the rebellion concluded in “mass deaths that four days of taut negotiations had sought to avert”. The Attica Uprising has been described as a historical event in the prisoners’ rights<\/a>\u00a0movement.<\/p>\n

Throughout Meditations<\/em>, Philion conveys Mingus\u2019s brilliance with tight-yet-liberated ensembles, bounding with call-and-response passages, and an inner fire that spurs soloists to heights of fire and ardor (especially alto sax player Rajiv Halim, on the bracing \u201cPrayer for Passive Resistance\u201d).<\/p>\n

In referring back to the music as I wrote this, I\u2019m continually captivated by the richness of the compositions, arrangements and the colorful soloists. Jazz doesn\u2019t get any better.<\/p>\n

Remember Rockefeller, sure, but remember Mingus indeed \u2013 hearing this album he\u2019s as alive as a man breathing right down your neck.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Charles Mingus. Courtesy New England Conservatory of Music<\/em><\/p>\n

___________<\/p>\n

This review was originally published in shorter form in The Shepherd Express<\/em>, here: Mingus music review<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

For information on, and to purchase, this album, visit: https:\/\/ethanphilion.com\/home<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Album review: Ethan Philion Meditations on Mingus (Sunnyside) Ethan Philion will present the full-ensemble \u201cMeditations on Mingus\u201d at the Chicago Jazz Festival on Sept. 2, and at the North Street Cabaret in Madison on Sept. 10, and a quartet version … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[1617,1619,1132,404,1615,1622,1614,969,1616,1618,1621,1620,1623,22,181,1449,1624],"class_list":["post-14938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-www-kevernacular-com","tag-attica-prison","tag-bar-centro","tag-charles-mingus","tag-duke-ellington","tag-ethan-philion","tag-haitian-fight-song","tag-meditations-on-mingus","tag-mount-rushmore","tag-nelson-rockefeller","tag-north-street-cabaret","tag-pithecanthropus-erectus","tag-rajiv-halim","tag-richard-nixon","tag-russ-johnson","tag-sunnyside-records","tag-the-chicago-jazz-festival","tag-the-green-mill"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2hJWE-3SW","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14938"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14956,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14938\/revisions\/14956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}