The European Tour of April 1964

In April 1964 Mingus went to Europe with one of his greatest bands featuring Eric Dolphy on alto sax, bass clarinet and flute, Johnny Coles on trumpet, Clifford Jordan on tenor sax, Jaki Byard on piano and Dannie Richmond on drums. Part of the repertoire was first "rehearsed" in front of the Town Hall audience in New York before the band left the United States to play their first concert in Amsterdam's Concertgebouw. After a week of touring the sextet was suddenly reduced to quintet when Coles collapsed on stage during the performance of 'So Long Eric' on April 17 in Paris.

This part of the discography is primarily based on Arjan Koning's original version and Lindenmaier/Salewski's Mingus discography (1983) with all corrections given in JazzRealities magazines 1-10 till summer 1989 (information provided by Gerd Fink, thanks!) This has been complemented and corrected by the information received from the contributors to this discography. I'm going to check the concerts I've on CD very carefully for edits and correct timings. The timings represent the length of the actual performance without applauses, introductions or other speeches - from the very first note to the very last decay of an instrument. The second length is the timing given by the CD player. I haven't used liner notes timings at all, because they're usually unreliable.

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Due to varying naming practices for certain compositions ('Meditations' and 'Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress', for example), I've basically sticked to the most common and shortest names for clarity. Here are some of the alternate titles and variations you may encounter:

Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
So Long Eric is sometimes mistitled as 'Goodbye Pork Pie Hat', as in case of "The Great Concert, Paris 1964" on Musidisc and "Paris 1964, Vol 2" on Le Jazz
Meditations
Meditations For A Pair Of Wire Cutters
Meditations On Integration
Meditations For Intergration
Praying With Eric
Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress
Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress, Then Blue
Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk
Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress, Then Silk Blue
Parkeriana
Ow
Dedicated To A Genius

April 4
Town Hall, NYC, USA
Praying With Eric 17:48 a
So Long Eric 27:31 a
Sophisticated Lady unissued
Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress unissued
A.T.F.W.Y.O.U.U.S.A. unissued

a) Jazz Workshop OJCCD-042-2
April 10
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Parkeriana (Ow) 20:42 a,c
So Long Eric 21:42 a,c
AT FW USA 4:00 a,c,d
Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress 13:47 a,c
Meditations 22:50 b,c
Fables Of Faubus 30:45 b,d
Sophisticated Lady 5:25 b,d

a) Ulysse AROC CD 1001
b) Ulysse AROC CD 1002
c) Ulysse AROC LP 50506/507 (2LP)
d) Ulysse AROC LP 50608 (LP)
April 11
Hilversum, The Netherlands
no further details
April 12
Oslo, Norway
So Long Eric 22:20 a,b
Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress 14:10/14:17 a,b,c
Parkeriana (false depart) 2:35 a,b
Take The "A" Train 12:46 a*,b
Meditations 19:18/19:25 d
Parkeriana 18:28/18:38 d
Fables Of Faubus 27:37/27:43 c

Notes: *) a faded-out version of 'Take The "A" Train' (9:42)
a) JazzUp JU-307
b) VIDJAZZ 15 (video) or KJazz KJ 127 (video)
c) Landscape LS2-913
d) Landscape LS2-919
April 13
(first concert)
Stockholm,
Sweden
Peggy's Blue Skylight 10:44/11:06 a,b
When Irish Eyes Are Smiling 11:00/11:35? a
Fables Of Faubus 17:09/17:40 a,b,c(?)
Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress* 12:42/12:59 a,b
How sizes China from Mississippi
So Long Eric

Notes: *) Lindenmaier/Salewski's length is 16:30, but assuming that the Bandstand is from Stockholm, the correct timings are listed above
a) Royal Jazz RJD 518
b) Bandstand BDCD 1524
c) Frequenz 044-011
April 13
(second concert)
Stockholm,
Sweden
So Long Eric (take 1) 2:38 a
Meditations (false depart) 2:06* a
Meditations 16:40 a
So Long Eric 7:20/6:54? a, b(?)

Notes: *) 0:33 according to Lindenmaier/Salewski
a) Royal Jazz RJD 518
b) Frequenz 044-011
April 14
Old Fellow Palaet's Store Sal, Copenhagen, Denmark
So Long Eric 28:15
A.T.F.W.Y.O.U.U.S.A.* 4:00/4:13 b
Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress 14:13/14:18 b
Fables Of Faubus 33:34/34:11 a,b
Parkeriana 24:48
Meditations 22:19/22:29 a,b,c

Notes: *) Byard only
a) Moon MCD 016-2
b) Landscape LS2-905
c) Bandstand BDCD 1524
April 16
Bremen, Germany
AT FW USA* 4:24 a,d
Sophisticated Lady 3:45 a,d,e(?)
Meditations 24:45 c
Fables Of Faubus 33:00 b
Parkeriana 21:15 c
So Long Eric 25:00 a

Notes: *) Byard only
a) Ingo ten (LP)
b) Ingo thirteen (LP)
c) Ingo fifteen (LP)
d) Unique Jazz UJ23 (LP)
e) Frequenz 044-011
April 17
Salle Wagram, Paris, France
Sophisticated Lady 3:20 f
So Long Eric* 28:23/28:51 b,d,e
Meditations 22:30 a,c,e
Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress 11:35 a,e
Fables Of Faubus 24:53 a,c,e
Parkeriana 24:04/24:12 b,d,e
Peggy's Blue Skylight 12:50 a,c,e

Notes:
  1. 'Fables Of Faubus' is edited from the full length of 35:00 (according to Lindenmaier/Salewski)
  2. The timings for 'So Long Eric' and 'Parkeriana' come from d (they're wrong in liner notes)
  3. *) During this performance of 'So Long Eric', Johnny Coles collapsed due to a perforated gastric ulcer; he was hospitalized at the American Clinic at Neuilly, France, for the remainder of the Charles Mingus European Tour 1964,

    Musidisc 500072 MU 763 and America AM 003-004-005 (3LP) contain an edited version of 'So Long Eric' (see April 19 for more information),

    'So Long Eric' is mistitled 'Goodbye Pork Pie Hat' on d and e

a) Le Jazz CD 19
b) Le Jazz CD 38
c) France's Concert FCD 102
d) France's Concert FCD 110
e) Revenge 32002
f) France's Concert FC 102 (LP)

April 19
Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris, France
Sophisticated Lady 5:52/6:12 a,b
Fables Of Faubus 27:30/27:47 a,b
Parkeriana 23:25/23:35 a,b
Meditations 21:47/23:04 a,b*
Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress 14:05/16:00 a
So Long Eric (edited) 5:40 b
I Can't Get Started unissued
Notes:
  1. The concert started 0.10 a.m. and ended 2.45 a.m. (according to Musidisc liner notes) - therefore this is under April 19, not April 18
  2. *) 'Meditations' lasts 27:30 on America 3LP-set
  3. 'So Long Eric' (23:21/27:10) on Musidisc (mistitled 'Goodbye Pork Pie Hat'), which features Coles, is actually an edited version from Salle Wagram and it fades in the end of Dolphy's alto sax solo before Richmond's drum solo.
  4. 'Sophisticated Lady' is a duet featuring Byard and Mingus
  5. Johnny Coles did not play in this concert, although some of the liner notes claim otherwise
a) Musidisc 500072 MU 763
b) America AM 003-004-005 (3LP)
April 19
Palais de Congres, Liege, Belgium
So Long Eric 5:45 a
Peggy's Blue Skylight 6:59 a
Meditations 24:27 a

a) RTB(B)-radio/tv-recording
April 20
Marseille, France
So Long Eric a
Parkeriana a
Meditations a

a) ORTF(F)-tv-broadcast
April 21
Lyon, France
no further details
April 22
Limmathaus, Zurich, Switzerland
no further details
April 23
Biel-Bienne, Switzerland
AT FW USA
So Long Eric
Fables Of Faubus
April 24
Bologna, Italy
no further details
April 25
Milano, Italy
no further details
April 26
Town Hall, Wuppertal, Germany
AT FW USA 5:09 b
Fables Of Faubus 36:12/37:36 a
Starting 4:55/5:27 a
Peggy's Blue Skylight 11:32 b
Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress 17:00 b
Sophisticated Lady 3:44 b
So Long Eric 22:51 b
Meditations 21:36/22:24 a

Note: 'Starting' (aka 'I Can't Get Started') is a duet featuring Mingus and Dolphy
a) Enja CD-3049-45
b) Enja R2 79612 or Enja CD 3077-38
April 27
Frankfurt, Germany
no further details
April 28
Liederhalle, Stuttgart, Germany
A.T.F.W.Y.O.U.U.S.A.* 3:45/4:15 a,c
Fables Of Faubus 40:07 a,c
Sophisticated Lady 3:55/4:01 a,c
Peggy's Blue Skylight 19:04 b
Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress 16:00 b
So Long Eric 29:16 b
Meditations 28:12 b
These Foolish Things 3:00 b

Notes: *) Jaki Byard piano solo
a) Unique Jazz UJ009 (LP)
b) Unique Jazz UJ007/008 (2LP)
c) Unique Jazz RKO1038 (CD)
April 29
Hamburg, Germany
no further details

Bandstand BDCD 1524 Meditations On Integration
Enja CD 3049-45
Enja R2 79612
Mingus In Europe, Volume One
Mingus In Europe, Vol. 2
France's Concert FCD 102
France's Concert FCD 110
Meditation
Vol. 2: Live In Paris, 1964
Frequenz 044-011 Charles Mingus
Ingo ten
Ingo thirteen
Ingo fifteen
"Hope so Eric" Vol. 1
"Fables of Faubus" Vol. 2
"Parkeriana" Vol. 3
JazzUp JU-307 Live in Oslo 1964 featuring Eric Dolphy
Jazz Time 64036-2 Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
Jazz Workshop OJCCD-042-2 Town Hall Concert
KJazz KJ 127 Charles Mingus Sextet (video)
Landscape LS2-905
Landscape LS2-913
Landscape LS2-919
Live In Copenhagen 1964
Live In Oslo - Vol. 1
Live In Oslo - Vol. 2
Le Jazz CD 19
Le Jazz CD 38
Paris 1964
Paris 1964, Vol 2
Moon MCD 016-2 Astral Weeks
Musidisc 500072 MU 763 The Great Concert, Paris 1964
Revenge 32002 Revenge!
Royal Jazz RJD 518 Live In Stockholm 1964
Ulysse AROC CD 1001
Ulysse AROC CD 1002
Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Vol. 1
Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Vol. 2
Unique Jazz 007-009
Unique Jazz UJ23
Unique Jazz RKO1038
Mingus In Stuttgart
Mingus Sextet Live In Europe
Live in Stuttgart! 1946

Charles Mingus Home Page Last revised: July 1, 2004 (fixed broken links)