The Supper Table

The first radio show I had in college was a jazz show. At the time I really knew nothing about the music, just a few names. Every week I would pull records for a few hours, mostly based on familiar names and album covers, and then I would spend a few hours listening to tracks. As my knowledge and the show evolved, Charles Mingus' Better Git it in Your Soul became my opening song, my theme song in a sense. It feels like church gospel, on your feet hands clapping, head dipping to the beat. This song was my door way to Mingus' work, and through him to people like Eric Dolphy and Booker Ervin. It is because of a growing love of Mingus that I sought out Money Jungle, and took a deeper look at the life and work of Duke Ellington. It all started with the first track in this entry. Charles Mingus Ah Um side 1 1 Better Git It In Your Soul 2 Goodbye Porkpie Hat 3 Boogie Step Shuffle 4 Self-Portrait In Three Colors 5 Open Letter to Duke

Since I served up all three tracks from side 2 of The Quest the only logical thing to do is add side 1, and I love logic the way that I love this album...close enough. Waldron's compositions are sparse and evocative, highly emotive, spacious enough to give the soloists freedom, tightly woven enough to trap them like butterflies without trapping their wings. Do you know why I say that? It's because it's true, not exactly factual, but after listening to this album for 10 years I can say it's true. This is like a hurricane in a bottle. 1. Status Seeking 2. Duquility 3. Thirteen 4. We Diddit