Town Hall Concert 1964 Vol. 1
Project manager
RELEASE DATE: 18 April 2026
LABEL : Candid
FORMAT:
LP
A landmark live set from one of jazz’s most fearless innovators. Recorded April 4, 1964, at New York City’s Town Hall, Town Hall Concert 1964 Vol. 1 finds the legendary bassist-composer leading a powerhouse sextet featuring Eric Dolphy, Clifford Jordan, Jaki Byard, Dannie Richmond, and Johnny Coles. Blending blues, explosive swing, and avant-garde bursts, this high-wire performance captures Mingus at his boldest — uncompromising, urgent, and alive with possibility.
A creative high point for Mingus and one of his most revered small ensembles, this extraordinary recording serves as a snapshot of a group in peak form. Famously, Dolphy had just told the band he’d be leaving the group after their upcoming European tour. Well known for being volatile as well as deeply and sincerely emotional, Mingus composed the two pieces performed here as a send-off to him. One a playful, fiery goodbye, the other an introspective spiritual farewell, a retitling of Meditations. Tragically, Dolphy would die just months later in June of ’64 of complications from diabetes.
Often confused with the legendarily disorganized 1962 concert and another concert from Tyrone Guthrie that was mistitled Town Hall, this show is focused, sharp, and deeply expressive.
This single-disc LP set has been remastered by five-time Grammy Award-winning engineer Michael Graves, with vinyl mastering by renowned engineer Jeff Powell. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl, it features the original artwork, meticulously restored and reproduced.
A creative high point for Mingus and one of his most revered small ensembles, this extraordinary recording serves as a snapshot of a group in peak form. Famously, Dolphy had just told the band he’d be leaving the group after their upcoming European tour. Well known for being volatile as well as deeply and sincerely emotional, Mingus composed the two pieces performed here as a send-off to him. One a playful, fiery goodbye, the other an introspective spiritual farewell, a retitling of Meditations. Tragically, Dolphy would die just months later in June of ’64 of complications from diabetes.
Often confused with the legendarily disorganized 1962 concert and another concert from Tyrone Guthrie that was mistitled Town Hall, this show is focused, sharp, and deeply expressive.
This single-disc LP set has been remastered by five-time Grammy Award-winning engineer Michael Graves, with vinyl mastering by renowned engineer Jeff Powell. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl, it features the original artwork, meticulously restored and reproduced.
