The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady

impulse!60周年!チャールズ・ミンガスの最高傑作と言われている1963年リリースの「The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady」は、ジャズの作曲とオーケストレーションの両方において最高水準の作品。ジャズの歴史を語る上で欠かせないこの作品は、バレエとしても上演され、ミンガスの心理療法士によるオリジナルのライナーノーツも掲載。

大編成のジャズ、フォーク、エリントンの影響を受けた強烈で個性的なマッシュアップが見事!

【パーソネル】Charles Mingus(double b, p) Jerome Richardson(ss,bs,fl) Charlie Mariano(as) Dick Hafer(ts,fl) Rolf Ericson(tp) Richard Williams(tp) Quentin Jackson(tb) Don Butterfield (tuba, contrabass trombone) Jaki Byard(p) Jay Berliner(Classical g) Dannie Richmond(ds) Bob Hammer(arr)

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is one of the greatest achievements in orchestration by any composer in jazz history. Charles Mingus consciously designed the six-part ballet as his magnum opus, and -- implied in his famous inclusion of liner notes by his psychologist -- it's as much an examination of his own tortured psyche as it is a conceptual piece about love and struggle. It veers between so many emotions that it defies easy encapsulation; for that matter, it can be difficult just to assimilate in the first place. Yet the work soon reveals itself as a masterpiece of rich, multi-layered texture and swirling tonal colors, manipulated with a painter's attention to detail. There are a few stylistic reference points -- Ellington, the contemporary avant-garde, several flamenco guitar breaks -- but the totality is quite unlike what came before it. Mingus relies heavily on the timbral contrasts between expressively vocal-like muted brass, a rumbling mass of low voices (including tuba and baritone sax), and achingly lyrical upper woodwinds, highlighted by altoist Charlie Mariano. Within that framework, Mingus plays shifting rhythms, moaning dissonances, and multiple lines off one another in the most complex, interlaced fashion he'd ever attempted. Mingus was sometimes pigeonholed as a firebrand, but the personal exorcism of Black Saint deserves the reputation -- one needn't be able to follow the story line to hear the suffering, mourning, frustration, and caged fury pouring out of the music. The 11-piece group rehearsed the original score during a Village Vanguard engagement, where Mingus allowed the players to mold the music further; in the studio, however, his exacting perfectionism made The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady the first jazz album to rely on overdubbing technology. The result is one of the high-water marks for avant-garde jazz in the '60s and arguably Mingus' most brilliant moment. ~ Steve Huey