"Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", Charles Mingus, Ah Um
Mingus is quickly becoming one of my jazz favorites. The Ah Um version of "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" is quietly and calmly captivating. So smooth and serene. Despite the fact that I play the Jeff Beck version nearly religiously, Mingus is still incredibly capable of moving me. I just love jazz when its right. The gentle ripples of the horns, the light harmonizing of instruments. The delicate trickling of the drums, and the glorious bass... All coming together so sublimely, moving me and relaxingly taking me under its spell. A simply magical track, really. But then...
"Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", Jeff Beck, Wired
Then I commit the sin! I play the two back to back, which is unfortunately nothing but trouble for dear old Mingus. Jeff Beck slowly opens the track at a nearly droning octave, the drums hiss, as the keyboards so expertly sprinkle the track. Beck slowly builds, skillfully ascending, maintaining all momentum, with each note resonating so perfectly in its place. I've forgotten entirely about Mingus' take, because Beck has already taken "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" to a remarkable place. With such skill and intensity, as the whole track simply bubbles over with emotion, Beck has done great justice to Mingus' composition. His guitar so elegantly glides into those transcendent climactic notes, scraping the sky with their rattling pitch. But he couples them with the low and sensuous drones, throwing in those crunching notes of such intensity. He marries all of these components so exquisitely, I'm quite literally blown away. They're all so eloquently arranged. Such an immense talent, with such beautiful precision. Literally, beautiful... And I really can't stand that word normally. Jeff Beck truly is a mind boggling guitar player. When people say he's one of the best, they're fucking right! His earlier work with the Jeff Beck Group, and even more so, the Yardbirds, is far more accessible than his landmark records, most notably Blow by Blow and Wired... But GET INTO IT. It did take me a while to warm up to his seemingly erratic (to the virgin ear) jazz fusion, but now, I hold it up as a striking achievement. I'm always eager to champion Beck as a innovator, and beyond that, a goddamn excruciating talent. You know how I said I wouldn't say geniuses exist in rock and roll? Well, among guitar players, Jeff Beck is as close as it gets. Just listen to "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", truly devour it. Thanks Mingus, for the stunning composition, but uh, I think Mr. Jeffrey Arnold Beck's got you here.
