On Hommage a Mingus, bassist Norman Guilbeault succeeds at casting some fresh light on a few of Charles Mingus' most complex compositions. His sextet is at times reminiscent of Mingus' 1964 sextet except that the instrumentation differs a bit (trombone instead of piano, and clarinet/bass clarinet... [+] Expand

On Hommage a Mingus, bassist Norman Guilbeault succeeds at casting some fresh light on a few of Charles Mingus' most complex compositions. His sextet is at times reminiscent of Mingus' 1964 sextet except that the instrumentation differs a bit (trombone instead of piano, and clarinet/bass clarinet in place of tenor) and of course the original players are not here. Although none of the musicians are as unique as Eric Dolphy, they do a magnificent job of bringing back these pieces, including the entire four-movement "Black Saint and the Sinner Lady," hinting strongly at the original version yet coming up with fresh variations. The program concludes with altoist Jean Derome's "Hommage a Mingus," a new work that sounds as if it could have been written by Mingus. This is an exciting set, well worth going out of one's way to acquire. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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