Mingus (Charles Mingus album)
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| Studio album by Charles Mingus | ||||
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| Label (s) | Candid Records | |||
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LP, CD |
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Title (number) |
3 or 4 |
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Nat Hentoff |
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Studio (s) |
Nola Penthouse Sound Studios New York City |
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Mingus is a jazz album by Charles Mingus . The album, recorded in 1960, was released on the short-lived Candid Records label, which jazz critic and producer Nat Hentoff founded with Bob Altshuler. The record is the second of a total of four LPs or CDs that Mingus recorded for Candid in 1960 ( Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus , Reincarnation Of A Love Bird and Mysterious Blues ). The recordings for this record were made on October 10th and November 11th, 1960.
The October 10th 1960 session
At the first session in October, the record Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus was recorded as a quartet. Subsequently, further recordings took place on this day, mainly in octets or tentets. Two of these pieces, Vasserlean and MDM , as well as Stormy Weather, previously recorded in the quartet, appeared on Charles Mingus (Candid 9021). The piece MDM was recorded here. Several takes were also recorded of Reincarnation Of A Love Bird , which was re-recorded on November 11, 1960 (but was released on other records).
The November 11, 1960 session
At this session, the Mingus octet recorded the piece Lock 'Em Up , as well as the compositions Bugs and another version of Reincarnation Of A Love Bird . During the November session, Charles Mingus also met swing veterans Jo Jones and Roy Eldridge ; The resulting pieces ( Body & Soul, R & R, Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams ) and other recordings of the larger formation are included on the Candid CD "Reincarnation Of A Love Bird", the out-takes and other material on the CD Mysterious blues .
The music
MDM , the first and longest piece on the record at around 20 minutes, was recorded by a tentet, with Nico Bunnik playing the piano. "MDM" means "Monk, Duke, Mingus" and refers to the fact that this piece is based on the compositions Fifty-First Street Blues by Mingus, Main Stem by Duke Ellington and Straight No Chaser by Thelonious Monk . Mingus introduces his instrumentalists in pairs: First Britt Woodman , then Jimmy Knepper , then one after the other the alto saxophonists Charles McPherson and Eric Dolphy , also one after the other, the trumpeters Ted Curson and Lonnie Hillyer , followed by Booker Ervin on the tenor saxophone. Dolphy finishes the piece on the bass clarinet.
Vassarlean in an octet line-up, recorded with fewer winds, has a more romantic sound and goes back to the composition Weird Nightmare .
Stormy Weather is a swing classic, composed in 1933 by Harold Arlen and best known for its interpretation by the singer Lena Horne . Eric Dolphy manages a poignant plaintive expression on the alto saxophone.
Lock 'Em Up is a fast- paced , seemingly hectic jazz blues ; next to his own theme Mingus used here as a second, counter-melody-run Passport by Charlie Parker . The original title of Lock 'Em Up was actually Hellview Of Bellevue , written by Mingus as a reminder of the Bellevue Mental Hospital, which he had voluntarily admitted to, but then had to learn how difficult it was to get out of such an institution.
The pieces
- 1. MDM
- 2. Vasserlean
- 3. Stormy Weather
- 4. Lock 'Em Up
Edition history
Vasserlean first appeared on the Candid sampler The Jazz Life! (CJS 9019) and is not included on the original LP, but is included on the CD. The piece MDM was also published in the Italian series I Giganti del Jazz (No. 83) in the early 1980s . The pieces Vasserlean and Stormy Weather also appeared on the compilation Charles Mingus - In A Soulful Mood (Music Club). It also contains the pieces Bugs (take 3) and Mysterious Blues from this November session as well as the above. Pieces with Eldridge and Jo Jones.
Meetings
The importance of the record was not immediately recognized by contemporary critics. In February 1962, the critic Dick Hadlock began a (well-meaning) review of Down Beat with the words: "Charles Mingus, a decidedly independent jazz musician with several faces ... flirts with every new trend that emerges in jazz - cool jazz , Hardbop , Third Stream , Soul Jazz and currently 'All Out Jazz'. But he failed to make a lasting stylistic impression. "
literature
- Horst Weber, Gerd Filtgen: Charles Mingus. His life, his music, his records. Oreos, Gauting-Buchendorf, undated, ISBN 3-923657-05-6
- Brian Priestley : Mingus - A critical biography. Paladin, London, 1985, ISBN 0-586-08478-9
- Roy Carr: Liner Notes for "Charles Mingus - In A Soulful Mood" (Candid / Music Club)
Individual evidence
- ↑ In addition, according to Priestley, the piece Message of the Drums , a drum solo, was recorded, which has not yet been published. See Priestley, Mingus, p. 277
- ↑ Priestley (p. 129) found in his musical analysis of this piece no audible indication that the 51 Street Blues was also processed by Mingus.
- ↑ cit. n. Priestley, pp. 129f.