The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

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The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
Studio album by Charles Mingus

Publication
(s)

July 1963

admission

January 20, 1963

Label (s) Impulses! Records

Format (s)

LP , CD , MC , SACD

Genre (s)

Avant-garde jazz , third stream

Title (number)

6th

running time

39:24

occupation

production

Bob Thiele

Studio (s)

RCA Studios, New York City

chronology
Tijuana Moods
(1962) 		The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus
(1963)
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The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is a jazz album by Charles Mingus that was released on January 20, 1963 by producer Bob Thiele for Impulse! Records was recorded, compiled and published. The session took place at the same time as the recordings for the subsequent record Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus .

The music

“ Black Saint is Charles Mingus' masterpiece”, write Richard Cook and Brian Morton in the Penguin Guide To Jazz and give the album the rarely awarded top rating of five stars: “Everything here is distinctive, the long form, the use of the crossfades, the liner notes from Mingus' psychiatrist. Mingus called his big band New Folk Band - although influenced by Duke Ellington , the suite has a majestic, dance-like feel. Charlie Mariano's solos on the alto saxophone (on tracks D, E and F) are of unmatched intensity. ”Mingus' original intention was to write ballet music, as can be seen from the track titles.

Black Saint received the composition prize of the jury of the German Jazz Federation in 1964, because the greatness of the album lies primarily in the composition, according to Mingus' German biographers Weber and Filtgen. Joachim Ernst Berendt wrote an essay on the record entitled Charles Mingus and the Shadow of Duke Ellington. At the same time, Duke's influence was “processed and given a more intellectual form”, according to Weber and Filtgen, “so this is the most impressive work Mingus has written and recorded in terms of compositional content, in short a milestone in modern jazz.” Berendt sees references Regarding the large Ellington Suites: "You are reminded of Dukes Black, Brown And Beige from 1944."

Although the realization for the Impulse! -Producer Bob Thiele represented a "drudgery" - the various partial shots had to be assembled into a uniform suite, at the same time he was constantly exposed to accusations from Mingus - the parts are in balance: "Tension and rather wild passion are emphasized here, and the contribution made by Mingus' soloists is very effective. "

Charles Mingus classified the music as “Ethnic Folk-Dance Music” and told Black Saint : “Throw away all of my records with one exception. I intend to re-record all of my records for Impulse. It is the first time that a company has helped me to give my audience a clear picture of my musical ideas without the usual studio rush. "

In the liner notes, Mingus also writes that the record was a kind of “funeral oration during his lifetime” on himself, “from the time I was born to the days when I first heard Bird and Dizzy ”, without explaining this . According to Edmund Pollock's liner notes, the title reflects the inner conflict of Mingus himself: a saint who atones for his sins and those of humanity. Others see the title as an allusion to the situation in his parents' house.

Mingus got his psychotherapist Edmund Pollock to write the rest of the liner notes , and he received $ 200 for this "special session".

Track list

All compositions are by Charles Mingus . The arrangements were made by Bob Hammer .

page 1
1. Track A - Solo Dancer - 6:20
Stop! Look! And Listen, Sinner Jim Whitney!
2. Track B - Duet Solo Dancers - 6:25
Heart's Beat and Shades In Physical Embraces
3. Track C - Group Dancers - 7:00
(Soul Fusion) Freewoman and Oh, This Freedom's Slave Cries
Page 2
4. Mode D - Trio And Group Dancers - 17:52
Stop! Look! And Sing Songs of Revolutions!
Mode E - Single Solos And Group Dance
Saint And Sinner Join Merriment on Battle Front
Mode F - Groups And Solo Dance
Of Love, Pain and Passioned Revolt, then Farewell, My Beloved, 'til It's Freedom Day

Quotes

"Mr. Mingus thinks this is his best take. It may very well be his best in the sense that it reflects his current stage of development better than past recordings. It must be emphasized that Mr. Mingus is not yet a complete personality. He is still in a process of change and personal development. Hopefully his integration into society will keep pace with this. You can expect more surprises from him. "

- Edmund Pollock : Liner Notes for The Black Saint

" The Black Saint is in any case a masterpiece of an ingenious style sublimator and one of those moments in music that eludes the ultimate interpretation in favor of the individual feeling of the individual listener."

- Ralf Dombrowsky : Basic Jazz disco

reception

source rating
Allmusic
Jazzwise
The Penguin Guide to Jazz

The music magazine Jazzwise selected the album at number 37 on The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook the World list . Brian Priestley wrote:

“Maybe you have to acquire a taste for Mingus before getting to this, but I've known people with significant non-Mingus backgrounds fall headlong for it at first hearing. Whether you come from Ellington or from Coltrane or from blues-bands, there's stuff from this almost continuous suite to captivate you. Even techno fans - no sampling as such - will find early creative use of editing, recycling and overdubbing. Even more creative is the work of soloists such as Jackson, Byard and the amazing Mariano […], and the unaccompanied flamenco guitar part apparently written note-for-note by Mingus himself. "

- Brian Priestley

The German-language edition of Rolling Stone magazine selected the album in 2013 in the list of the 100 best jazz albums in 7th place.

Pitchfork selected The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady at number 17 of the 200 best albums of the 1960s.

The album is ranked 186th of the 200 best albums of all time by the music magazine Uncut .

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady was included in the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Charles Mingus Catalog on jazzdisco.org (accessed June 17, 2018)
  2. ↑ Weber / Filtgen, pp. 136f.
  3. ↑ a b Joachim Ernst Berendt: A window made of jazz. Fischer TB, 1978.
  4. ↑ Weber / Filtgen, p. 137.
  5. ↑ Weber / Filtgen, p. 138.
  6. ↑ after Weber / Filtgen, p. 139.
  7. ↑ In the original: "My living Epitaph from the birth 'til the day I first heard Bird and Dizzy."
  8. ↑ Liner Notes in the English original: “ Mr. Mingus thinks this is his best record. It may very well be his best to date for his present stage of development as other records were in the past. It must be emphasized that Mr. Mingus is not yet complete. He is still in a process of change and personal development. Hopefully the integration in society will keep pace with his. One must continue to expect more surprises from him. ”
  9. ↑ Review by Steve Huey on allmusic.com (accessed June 1, 2018)
  10. ↑ Review by Brian Priestley on jazzwisemagazin.com (accessed June 1, 2018)
  11. ↑ Penguin Guide To Jazz: Five Star Recordings on counterpoint-music.com (accessed June 1, 2018)
  12. ↑ a b The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World on jazzwisemagazine.com (accessed June 10, 2018)
  13. ↑ The 100 best jazz albums . Rolling stone; accessed on November 16, 2016.
  14. ↑ The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s on pitchfork.com (accessed June 10, 2018)
  15. ↑ Uncut: 200 Greatest Albums Of All Time on rateyourmusic.com, from: Uncut 02/2016 (accessed June 17, 2018)