Weird Nightmare

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Weird Nightmare is a jazz composition by Charles Mingus .

The title

For the song, the bandleader, bassist and composer Charles Mingus wrote not only the music in AABA form, but also the lyrics and the arrangement , based on intervals that most singers would probably have considered unsingable at the time, according to critic Leonard Feather in the liner notes for the Pre-Bird record . The result is in stark contrast to the "popular songs" (of the American Songbook ) that were common at the time .

Mingus first recorded this composition in January 1946 with his so-called "Sextette" (a tentet) for the Excelsior label, which is only sold on the west coast (as the B-side to his "Shuffle Blues"). The singer was the tenor Claude Trenier; the piece here bears clear features of a swing ballad, to which the solo by Lucky Thompson contributes. The pianist Lady Will Carr recorded the piece under the title "Pipe Dream" with "Baron Mingus and His Octet" for the local "Four Stars" label in San Francisco in April of the same year - in this version of the piece there was vocals waived and the pianist emphasized; Britt Woodman played a solo on the trombone. Another version was recorded in 1958 for the Jazz & Lyrik production by Langston Hughes , "Weary Blues". After these two instrumental versions, Mingus resumed the composition with text on May 25, 1960 and published it on Pre-Bird . The singer was Lorraine Cousins.

This Mingus composition is also the title track of a tribute album by producer Hal Willner ; here “Weird Nightmare” is sung by Elvis Costello , accompanied by Bill Frisell , Marc Ribot , Don Alias , Henry Threadgill and others. a.

Mingus has recorded the composition as an instrumental title on various occasions under other titles, first as Smooch in 1953 with Miles Davis , and in 1960 also as Vassarlean on his record Mingus for the Candid label.

Choice discography

  • Charles Mingus: Pre-Bird (Mercury, 1960)
  • Michele Rosewoman: Guardian Of The light (Enja)
  • Mingus Big Band '93: Nostalgia In Times Square (Dreyfus)
  • Elvis Costello, Bill Frisell, u. a. on: Hal Willner: Weird Nightmare (Columbia / Sony, 1992)
  • Elvis Costello & Bill Frisell: Live At Meltdown (Nonesuch / Warner, 1995)

literature

  • Leonard Feather : Liner Notes for Charles Mingus - Pre Bird (Mercury, 1960)
  • Andrew Homzy : Liner Notes for Charles Mingus West Coast 1945-1949 (Uptown Records, 2000)
  • Hal Willner, Jeff Rosen: Liner Notes for Weird Nightmare (Columbia / Sony 1992)
  • Charles Mingus Discography
  • Bielefeld Jazz Catalog, 2001