One more once for Mingus

If you thought last Sunday was your only chance to catch the Richmond Mingus Awareness Project, you thought wrong.

November 5, 2010; 6:00 AM • by Dean Christesen

Listen to “Don’t Be Afraid, The Clown’s Afraid Too” by Charles Mingus:
[audio: http://media.rvanews.com/dontbeafraidtheclownsafraidtoo.mp3|titles= Don’t Be Afraid The Clown’s Afraid Too|artists=Charles Mingus]

If you thought last Sunday was your only chance to catch the Richmond Mingus Awareness Project, you thought wrong. The crew is bringing the program to Williamsburg this Sunday where they’ll perform at the College of William & Mary’s Sadler Center Tidewater Room. Adam Larrabee Trio plays Money Jungle. MAP Big Band directed by Doug Richards. Amazing t-shirts for sale. They’ll all be there.

At CenterStage nearly two weeks ago, Guitarist Larrabee, drummer and event producer Brian Jones, and bassist Randall Pharr began the night with choices from the classic Ellington/Mingus/Roach album. Their creative “Caravan” and slow and dark “Fleurette Africaine” stood out as my favorites, as well as Larrabee’s breathtaking solo rendition of “Solitude” that made me wonder if the song should really be played any other way.

The MAP’s Big Band stacked roster of musicians always provides for an amazing set. Trumpeters John D’earth and Michael Davison played off each other in great solos, vocalist John Winn was delightful on Richards’s arrangement of “Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love” (one of Mingus’s tributes to the bandleader extraordinaire), and the whole ensemble sounded tight under Richards’s unmistakably eccentric leadership.

If you’re tempted to make the drive on Sunday, give in. You won’t regret it.

View event details (pdf)