The Music of Charles Mingus @ Jazz at Obie's (Southgate Club), London - May 27

Malcolm Earle Smith (trombone, vocals); Art Themen (tenor sax); Gabriel Garrick (trumpet, flugelhorn); Kate Williams (piano); Larry Bartley (double bass); Ethan Sweeting (drums)

The Music of...Malcolm Earle Smith (Professor of Jazz, Trinity, London) has taken to putting together ensembles to play the music of whatever and whoever. This evening's all-star sextet, purposely restricted to a one hour rehearsal, would play the music of Charles Mingus.

The Southgate Club Ltd, on the Piccadilly line at, unsurprisingly, Southgate (two stops short of end-of-the-line Cockfosters), is home to Jazz at Obie's. It's a typical social club, not CIU, but, to all intents and purposes it could be. The all-star line-up tempted your correspondent to make the round trip of some 550 miles to listen to Malcolm Earle Smith and co play the music of Mingus. 

As a fair few folk (no doubt regulars at Obie's) took their seats on a warm, late spring evening, our sextet opened with Dizzy Moods. Excellent ensemble work: genial Malcolm Earle Smith leading from the front, late dep Gabriel Garrick (in for Pete Horsfall) assured, powerful, Art Themen on terrific form, Kate Williams comping, then comping some more, Larry Bartley a towering presence, recent Trinity graduate drummer, Ethan Sweeting, mixing it with the big boys...and the, musically speaking, big girl!

Malcolm Earle Smith knew the material inside out, singing a few into the bargain. Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting stopped just short of a riot, A Foggy Day was given the Mingus treatment, each and every one of the soloists hitting their straps. Great stuff! Special mention of drummer Ethan Sweeting. A generation or two, or three (!) younger than his bandmates, Ethan has a promising future ahead of him. Make a note of the name, Ethan Sweeting.     

Some forty eight hours after the death of Sonny Rollins, our sextet paid homage with a rousing take on St Thomas. It's likely jazz clubs the world over were paying similar respects. Duke Ellington's Reincarnation of a Lovebird made the cut - quite right too, Mingus was a big admirer of the great man. Jelly Roll, Self-Portrait in Three Colors, the music of Mingus just kept on coming. Considering the wealth of Mingus charts to choose from, this Southgate Social Club concert performance barely scratched the surface. At some point in the future, perhaps there'll be a second Mingus concert, and a third... Russell           

First set: Dizzy Moods; Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting; A Foggy Day; Sound of Love; Portrait

Second set: St Thomas; Reincarnation of a Lovebird; Jelly Roll; Self-Portrait in Three Colors.