Pre-Bird is oddly buried in Mingus's discography. It's a decent record. Not sure why it gets absolutely ignored.
I mean, it doesn't even have the bold distinction on RYM. Counting only studio albums, Mingus has 14 of those. I know that's a silly observation but it further emphasises your point.
Hayden wrote:
Can always have Waldron on piano.
Yeah, All The Things You C# is one of my favourite things Mingus ever did and Waldron is the main reason for that, the man is an artist in every sense of the word.
I mean, it doesn't even have the bold distinction on RYM. Counting only studio albums, Mingus has 14 of those. I know that's a silly observation but it further emphasises your point.
Yeah, All The Things You C# is one of my favourite things Mingus ever did and Waldron is the main reason for that, the man is an artist in every sense of the word.
Coincidently, just finished up a Waldron record myself and found it wasn't on the site yet. Blood And Guts. Thought it was excellent.
Waldron has at least 10 great records. No idea why he isn't lauded more. Should be as big of a name as Mingus or Roach. Check out his backstory too, especially for the record All Alone. Interesting life. _________________ Doubles & Conch
Coincidently, just finished up a Waldron record myself and found it wasn't on the site yet. Blood And Guts. Thought it was excellent.
Waldron has at least 10 great records. No idea why he isn't lauded more. Should be as big of a name as Mingus or Roach. Check out his backstory too, especially for the record All Alone. Interesting life.
First thing I will do after I'm done with Mingus and make up my mind on the album I'll nominate for the 2020 tournament.
Track Listing
1. Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting
2. Cryin' Blues
3. Moanin'
4. Tensions
5. My Jelly Roll Soul
6. E's Flat Ah's Flat Too
Credits
Charles Mingus - Bass
Dannie Richmond - Drums
Horace Parlan - Piano
Mal Waldron - Piano
John Handy - Saxophone (alto)
Jackie McLean - Saxophone (alto)
Pepper Adams - Saxophone (baritone)
Booker Ervin - Saxophone (tenor)
Jimmy Knepper - Trombone
Willie Dennis - Trombone
Nesuhi Ertegun - Producer
Everyone knows it already, it’s a top-5 Mingus album according to BEA, RYM and pretty much anyone else who has ever bothered to spend a significant amount of time with his discography, a stone-cold classic on all accounts, so finishing in a mere 12th spot may come as a surprise. I really like it, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that there happen to be some other albums by him that I like a bit - or a lot -more. His titles are always spectacular and never fail to make an impression, there are cases where they stick with you for an even longer time than the music they accompany. Generally speaking, one could divide them into two categories. They are either totally bonkers that make little to no sense or bang on summations of the music you are about to listen. Here it’s unquestionably the latter. This was supposed to be his response to the critics, who made the claim that his music isn’t swingy enough. So, he decides to triumphantly prove them wrong by returning to his roots and playing some tasty blues/gospel/New Orleans jazz. Overall, it’s one of his most accessible records, this back to basics approach is very easy on the ear -especially if you are coming from a rock background - and diverse enough to keep your attention throughout. There are slow-burning parts, where it’s almost as if you are taking part in a sort of religious ritual and then come the out of control bacchanalian ones that make this album what it is. How he treats the horns is always special and this is one of the finest examples. He -ok, when I say he, it goes without saying that tons of credit is due to the sax players as well, but Mingus always pushes them to go the extra mile that makes all the difference- uses the sax like a guitar. And if you think Mingus is just a composer, this will instantly remind you what a great performer he is, the bass is on fire. If you forced me to name a negative aspect of it, I’d say that, when examined as a whole, it isn’t as free flowing as some of his other attempts. My favourites are the big ones, Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting and especially Moanin’. Another one that usually gets lots of praise is the closing track, E's Flat Ah's Flat Too -again, what a title-, which is cool and stuff, but I’d never compare it to the other two.
Track Listing
1. Myself When I Am Real
2. I Can't Get Started
3. Body And Soul
4. Roland Kirk's Message
5. Memories Of You
6. She's Just Miss Popular Hybrid
7. Orange Was the Color of Her Dress; Then Silk Blues
8. Meditations For Moses
9. Old Portrait
10. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
11. Compositional Theme Story...Medleys, Anthems and Folklore
Credits
Charles Mingus - Piano
Bob Thiele - Producer
His final recording om Impulse! brings us a concept that seems destined to fail, it takes a brilliant artist like Mingus to make it work. He finds a way to surprise us once more, sitting behind the piano - ok, there’s Oh Yeah as well, but here he’s gone one step further in that regard, as there are no other musicians. Not the ideal circumstances to showcase his talent, but we get to see another side of his artistic personality that gets lost when he is working in a big band environment. Based on that, this would rank much higher if the criteria were “which albums would you recommend to someone who wants to know Mingus” instead of “which are your favourite albums by Mingus” considering that this offers some elements that don’t appear almost anywhere else on his discography. He doesn’t go for anything too complicated or technical, if you compare it to something like Solo Monk it’s worlds apart. The lyricism is far and away the main selling point. If his other records show Mingus the Rockstar, the one who organises the best parties and knows how to have fun, this is a sober version, the party is over, the masks are gone and he is naked, it’s only him and the piano, where he can finally confess some of his inner thoughts. Also, it gets better with every listen. I know that this is a statement which applies to all of his works, but this is more subtle, so more secrets are concealed and will slowly reveal themselves to the patient listener. Another noteworthy aspect is how he keeps the same mood throughout, it feels like the whole album consists of one and only track. On the other hand, this means that there aren’t any big highlights, maybe the opening track would take the cake, but all of them are very close.
Track Listing
1. Memories Of You
2. East Coasting
3. West Coast Ghost
4. Celia
5. Conversation
6. Fiftyfirst Street Blues
Credits
Charles Mingus – bass
Clarence Shaw - trumpet
Jimmy Knepper - trombone
Shafi Hadi - saxophone
Bill Evans - piano
Dannie Richmond - drums
I never thought this would end up so high, probably the biggest overachiever of the list, based on my prior to re-listening assembled notes this would have taken something like 14th/15th/16th place, so to crack into the top-10 is quite a feat. As with Pre-Bird, it’s another one that doesn’t even have the bold distinction on RYM, whatever. I know many Mingus fans are disappointed with it, but I have to say I found it a pleasantly surprising change of pace. It has been said that this lacks some of his trademarks, namely the ambition and larger than life approach of Mingus. The truth is this would be rather normal hard bop were it not for Bill Evans, you all know what he can bring to the table and he is firing on all cylinders here. Just as it was the case with Mingus Plays The Piano that I brought up a couple of posts above, Bill Evans stands out as a piano player mainly due to his lyricism – ok, he happens to be able to play the piano and I mean really play, so there’s that as well. I like what he did here even more than his own album, Portrait In Jazz, I posted some time ago in this diary. When it comes to individual tracks, what is supposed to be the central piece of the album, namely West Coast Ghost, is somehow my least favorite, it starts kinda ok, but at some point it loses me, hard to explain why. On the other hand, it’s the opening track, Memories of You, that is by far my favourite one – which is notably the only non-original composition – it oozes emotion. Overall, it’s another very accessible record, if there’s the Mingus world and the mere mortals world, this is torn between those two worlds. Also, I haven’t cross-checked it, so I’m not 100% sure about it, but I read somewhere that this was recorded in the same sessions as Tijuana Moods, there must have been something in the water.
Track Listing
1. Slop
2. Diane
3. Song With Orange
4. Gunslinging Bird
5. Things Ain't What They Used To Be
6. Far Wells, Mill Valley
7. New Now, Know How
8. Mood Indigo
9. Put Me In That Dungeon
Credits
Charles Mingus – bass
John Handy – saxophone (alto)
Booker Ervin – saxophone (tenor)
Benny Golson – saxophone (tenor)
Jerome Richardson – saxophone (baritone), flute
Richard Williams – trumpet
Don Ellis – trumpet
Jimmy Knepper – trombone
Roland Hanna – piano
Dannie Richmond – drums
Teddy Charles – vibraphone
Maurice Brown – cello
Seymour Barab – cello
Teo Macero - producer
People have been calling it an “unlucky” album”, because it’s something like part II of Mingus Ah Um. I can’t say the general view is that far off, these two are based on the same attitude. As a result, this tends to be overlooked in favour of the latter, which obviously made the bigger impression as it came out first – and let’s admit it, it’s a bit better as an album all things considered, absolutely no shame in that. Getting over the - fair or unfair depending on your perspective- comparisons and trying to find what differentiates this album from its predecessor, the most obvious element is that this features a bigger band and consequently a bigger sound, some of those tunes were actually intended for the big screen – and I’m speaking 100% literally here, it’s not a figure of speech, lol. Another noteworthy aspect is how the Duke Ellington influences go even deeper than usual, apart from the evident and pretty much self-explanatory Moon Indigo – a legendary piece by the way- , there’s also Things Ain’t What They Used to Be, which is written by Mercer Ellington, who is – ok, you probably guessed it- Duke’s son. If I had to pick a highlight, I’d probably go with Far Wells, Mill Valley, not the most obvious choice but it’s definitely a stand-out track, it’s usually considered either the best or the worst with the latter being the case more often than not, but I lean towards the former, it’s exotically grandiose in a way that I find simply impossible to resist. Of course, this comment wouldn't be complete without a reference to that album cover, I've always had a soft spot for Chinese/Far East cultural tradition - the album title is another tod towards the same direction as well - so you can easily imagine how close to home this one hits.
The only 1960 albums remaining were the ones by Mingus (Presents Charles Mingus, Mingus Dynasty, Blues & Roots), so that’s a wrap, here are the top 1960 albums – they have already been presented on this diary, so if you’ve been keeping up, there won’t be any surprises. I’d say #1 is undisputed and I’m happy with the order of the top-6, the others could change depending on the mood. There were many more that I enjoyed, but the ones included here are the pick of the litter so to speak.
On a side note and as a teaser before moving on with the rest of Mingus’ discography, as you will instantly notice by checking the scores I am going to give to the top-8 Mingus albums, this will signify the beginning of the top part of this list. if the albums that didn’t make the cut were third tier and the first twelve albums to have appeared were second tier – which may sound like a harsh description, but it’s a comparative assessment, all of them are excellent when evaluated individually -now we get to first tier. Stay tuned!
One last 1960 album I checked a couple of days ago and forgot to post.
Odilio González - El Jibarito De Lares
At some point in the not so distant past I may have given this a pass without putting too much thought into it, but the exposure to Freddy has been an eye-opening experience regarding this genre. The music epitomises the beauty of simplicity. It may not have the sheer emotion of Freddy, but there’s a lot of passion involved in making this and it transcends the language barrier without any trouble whatsoever. 7/10.
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Hayden
