The Complete Town Hall Concert was considered a low point in Charles Mingus' career.
He had convinced the record company to let him record with a 30-piece band but hadn't completed the necessary amount of writing, and the concert was inexplicably billed as an open recording session with an invited audience, as opposed to a performance recorded for posterity.
Add to this sound problems on-stage and the unveiling of some of Mingus' most ambitious work and you've got an unusual evening of music, to say the least.
But the material here also shows that the evening was far more successful than previously conceived.
The Complete Town Hall Concert is most noteworthy for the partial performance of Mingus' suite "Epitaph," whose completed score was discovered after Mingus' death and finally performed in its entirety at Alice Tully Hall in 1989.
Many consider "Epitaph" to be Mingus' finest composition.
Listening to its germination, as well as the other music on this date, is a rich and rewarding experience.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Osmotin'Charles Mingus | Charles Mingus | Play | 02:49 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 2 | Peggy's Blue SkylightCharles Mingus | Charles Mingus | Play | 05:21 | 12 MB | 29 MB |
| 3 | My SearchCharles Mingus | Charles Mingus | Play | 08:09 | 18 MB | 39 MB |
| 4 | PortraitCharles Mingus | Charles Mingus | Play | 04:34 | 10 MB | 22 MB |
| 5 | Please Don't Come Back from the MoonCharles Mingus | Charles Mingus | Play | 07:24 | 16 MB | 40 MB |
| 6 | Freedom - Part One | Charles Mingus | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 17 MB |
| 7 | Freedom - Part Two (Clark In The Dark) | Charles Mingus | Play | 03:15 | 7 MB | 18 MB |
| 8 | Epitaph - Part One | Charles Mingus | Play | 07:03 | 16 MB | 39 MB |
| 9 | Epitaph - Part Two | Charles Mingus | Play | 05:09 | 11 MB | 28 MB |
| 10 | Duke's Choice (Don't Come Back) | Charles Mingus | Play | 05:12 | 11 MB | 24 MB |
| 11 | In A Mellotone (Finale) | Charles Mingus | Play | 08:21 | 19 MB | 47 MB |
| 12 | Epitaph - Part One (Alternate Take) | Charles Mingus | Play | 07:23 | 16 MB | 43 MB |
| 68 mins | 156 MB | |||||
| 68 mins | 367 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pepper Adams | Guest Artist, Sax (Baritone) |
| 2 | Toshiko Akiyoshi | Piano |
| 3 | Edward Armour | Trumpet |
| 4 | Danny Bank | Clarinet (Bass), E Flat Clarinet |
| 5 | George Berg | Sax (Tenor) |
| 6 | Eddie Bert | Trombone |
| 7 | Jaki Byard | Guest Artist, Piano |
| 8 | Jimmy Cleveland | Trombone |
| 9 | Buddy Collette | Sax (Alto) |
| 10 | Willie Dennis | Trombone |
| 11 | Eric Dolphy | Guest Artist, Sax (Alto) |
| 12 | Alan Douglas | Producer |
| 13 | Duke Ellington | Composer |
| 14 | Rolf Ericson | Trumpet |
| 15 | Paul Faulise | Trombone |
| 16 | Milt Gabler | Composer |
| 17 | Bob Hammer | Arranger |
| 18 | Lonnie Hillyer | Trumpet |
| 19 | Milt Hinton | Bass, Guest Artist |
| 20 | Quentin Jackson | Trombone |
| 21 | Melba Liston | Arranger |
| 22 | Charlie Mariano | Sax (Alto) |
| 23 | Charles McPherson | Sax (Alto) |
| 24 | Charles Mingus | Bass, Composer, Primary Artist |
| 25 | Romeo Penque | Oboe |
| 26 | Jerome Richardson | Sax (Baritone) |
| 27 | Dannie Richmond | Drums |
| 28 | Gene Roland | Arranger |
| 29 | Patrick Roques | Art Direction |
| 30 | Ernie Royal | Trumpet |
| 31 | Zoot Sims | Guest Artist, Sax (Tenor) |
| 32 | Warren Smith | Percussion, Vibraphone |
| 33 | Les Spann | Guitar |
| 34 | Chuck Stewart | Photography |
| 35 | Grady Tate | Guest Artist, Percussion |
| 36 | Clark Terry | Guest Artist, Trumpet |
| 37 | George Wein | Producer |
| 38 | Richard Gene Williams | Trumpet |
| 39 | Britt Woodman | Trombone |
| 40 | Snooky Young | Guest Artist, Trumpet |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |