Customer Reviews

Right Now-Live at Jazz Worksho

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Along with its more famous sister session, 'John Handy at Monterey' - this incredible jam represents the best of that glorious era of San Francisco jazz of the psychedelic sixties - an era which glows ever more brightly as it recedes into the past. Jazz is played here as it should be - spontaneous and free - not as much driven as moody - wildly swinging from the brusque and absurd to the delicate and wondorously complex within seconds - John Handy and Mingus are at the height of their powers - accompanied by the now legendary pianist Jane Getz - in a rare recording. You won't go wrong with this one.

When I first heard this session I was sold. This was my first Mingus LP, but at a certain point it was worn out. So the reissue on CD was of course a must, because this is Mingus at his best. A very sensitive and lyrical recording, sometimes exploding in aggressive and violent and mean blues. The ever-changing tempo and Mingus roaring and hummin' and shouting directions of the music in the back, this is LIVE. Jane Getz on piano is very intense, and of course John Handy with his characteristic cry. Go get this recording. And you'd better get hit in your soul.

I've been looking for this album for nearly thirty years! After hearing it often in the late sixties (at a friend's house), I was left with the memory of jazz-playing at its' best - always honest, lyrical and inventive; at times thunderous, humorous, dark and sensual, sad, ecstatic, all of these and more. So I've found it again through amazon.com, and it's every bit as good as I remember! OK, jazz just can't be described, so get a copy, and you won't be disappointed.

Robert, 16th April, 1999