Mingus Ah Um
by Charles Mingus

Album
Mingus Ah Um by Charles Mingus
Year: 1959
Overall rank: 230th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
84/100 (from 736 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 5 albums of 1959 (2nd)
Award Top 10 albums of of the 1950s (2nd)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (230th)

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Charles Mingus bestography

Mingus Ah Um is ranked 2nd best out of 54 albums by Charles Mingus on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Charles Mingus is The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady which is ranked number 93 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 12,135.

Charles Mingus album bestography « Higher ranked (93rd)
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady This album (230th)
Mingus Ah Um Lower ranked (882nd) »
Pithecanthropus Erectus

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Mingus Ah Um track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 84 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Track pick (880 - 161 votes)
Better Git It In Your Soul
Average Rating: 88 (161 votes)Comments: View 3
2.
Track pick (880 - 158 votes)
Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
Average Rating: 88 (158 votes)Comments: View 0
3.
Track pick (850 - 137 votes)
Boogie Stop Shuffle
Average Rating: 85 (137 votes)Comments: View 0
4.
Self-Portrait In Three Colors
Average Rating: 83 (125 votes)Comments: View 0
5.
Open Letter To Duke
Average Rating: 82 (119 votes)Comments: View 0
6.
Bird Calls
Average Rating: 82 (123 votes)Comments: View 0
7.
Fables Of Faubus
Average Rating: 84 (129 votes)Comments: View 1
8.
Pussy Cat Dues
Average Rating: 80 (116 votes)Comments: View 0
9.
Jelly Roll
Average Rating: 82 (120 votes)Comments: View 0

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Mingus Ah Um rankings

Mingus Ah Um rankings summary
Overall rank: 230th | 1950s rank: 2nd | 1959 rank: 2nd  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 5 hours ago)

Mingus Ah Um collection

Mingus Ah Um ratings

Average Rating: 
84/100 (from 736 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 3 ratings for this album.  | Show all 736 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
40/100
 !		10/08/2026 18:17 pedro1976  Ratings distribution  1,58071/100
 
90/100
 !		10/08/2026 06:44 pharoahstune  Ratings distribution  25479/100
 
100/100
 !		09/22/2026 18:52 Chorongo  Ratings distribution  5691/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 84.4/100, a mean average of 83.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 84.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.9.


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Mingus Ah Um favourites

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Mingus Ah Um forum mentions

This album has been referenced 172 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From BestEverAlbums 10/02/2026 08:18 in Monthly overall chart movements - September 2026
“The overall chart is ever changing, and it's difficult to keep up with the detail of what's happening. So, for those people who are interested, this post attempts to show the latest movements - biggest climbers, movers, new entries and leavers for the top 100, 250, 500 & 1000 over the past month,…”
(75 mentions across Monthly Overall Chart Movements topics)
View latest topic →

From Repo 09/30/2026 01:29 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
“What album are you listening to? (cont.)”
View topic (5 mentions) →

From BestEverAlbums 09/13/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5434): By Taric
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Taric () 1. by (2007) 2. by (1988) 3. by by (2000) 5. by (2009) 6. by (2011) 7. by (1999) 8. by (1997) 9. (1993) 10. by (1983) 11. (2009) 12. (2002) 13. by (2011) 14. by (2007) 15. (1977) 17. (1991) 18. (2009) 19. by (1970) 20. (2009) 21. by…”
(7 mentions across Chart of the Day topics)
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Mingus Ah Um comments

Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 40 comments |
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Rating:  
100/100
From 11/07/2011 01:45 | #29915 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Charles Mingus is a pretty cool dude, played a mean bass. This album's sweet as candy mangoes, every track is a dang standard as far as this guy is concerned. An entirely different monster than Black Saint, but just as good in its own ways. If "Haitian Fight Song" happened to be tagged onto the end of the Anniversary edition (whose bonus tracks are all essential, too), then I might not need to listen to anything else. Ever. Again. EVER. SERIOUSLY MAN NEVER ANYTHING EVER. MUSIC IS DEAD AFTER THIS ALBUM I SWEAR GUYS.

Ten outta ten.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 8
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Rating:  
90/100
From 06/17/2019 14:38 | #237714 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
"Mingus Ah Um" is, in my opinion, the ideal album to discover the giant genius Charles Mingus. Those who do not like jazz should start with this album, it contains all the pleasant elements of jazz. This record dates from 1959, and yet, the quality of the recording is superb. This album is one of the best record for chill. Mingus touches everything: bop, free jazz, new orleans, while keeping his personality. The arrangements are grandiose, Ervin and Handy (sax) give me a huge slap, and the rhythm section composed of Dannie Richmond (d) and, of course, Charles Mingus (cb) is exceptional. One of the best jazz record of all times.

9/10

Best track: "Better Git It In Your Soul"
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 2
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Rating:  
85/100
From 06/07/2016 23:37 | #168154 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Another jazz album from 1959, another classic. A top 5 pre-Beatles album, Mingus Ah Um is an increduble album that both looks back at jazz's early sound, and forward to ways that the music could be expanded. Mingus was able to do so much with his bands, which had more ability in its band of less than ten than most big bands had. Mingus' bands had the ability to sound like a small quintet and a bug band due to its size, and Mingus is able to explore both of the these sounds on thus album, to excellent effect.
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Rating:  
85/100
From 08/07/2017 18:57 | #195673 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
The Jazz I prefer tends to be more like Black Saint and the Sinner Lady so I never gave this album the proper chance. Damn this is good, better than Black Saint and the Sinner Lady in my opinion. Makes me feel alive.
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Rating:  
90/100
From 12/28/2017 19:10 | #204045 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Up there with Giant Steps and Kind of Blue as among my absolute favorite jazz records.
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Best Albums of  1959
1. Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis
2. Mingus Ah Um by Charles Mingus
3. Time Out by The Dave Brubeck Quartet
4. The Shape Of Jazz To Come by Ornette Coleman
5. Berry Is On Top by Chuck Berry
6. Moanin' In The Moonlight by Howlin' Wolf
7. Little Girl Blue by Nina Simone
8. The Genius Of Ray Charles by Ray Charles
9. Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs by Marty Robbins
10. Chega De Saudade by João Gilberto