Pithecanthropus Erectus
by Charles Mingus

Pithecanthropus Erectus by Charles Mingus
Year: 1956
Overall rank: 910th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 279 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 5 albums of 1956 (3rd)
Award Top 50 albums of of the 1950s (22nd)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (910th)

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Charles Mingus Pithecanthropus Erectus (CD 1987) Mal Waldron Jackie McLean
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* CHARLES MINGUS * PITHECANTHROPUS ERECTUS (1956) * Japan * 24 BIT CD * obi *
Condition: Like New


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Pithecanthropus Erectus by Mingus, Charles (CD, 2018)
Condition: Brand New


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Charles Mingus bestography

Pithecanthropus Erectus is ranked 3rd 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 91 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 12,435.

Charles Mingus album bestography « Higher ranked (230th)
Mingus Ah Um
This album (910th)
Pithecanthropus Erectus
Lower ranked (1,264th) »
Blues & Roots

(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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Pithecanthropus Erectus track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Pithecanthropus Erectus rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 910th | 1950s rank: 22nd | 1956 rank: 3rd

Pithecanthropus Erectus collection

Pithecanthropus Erectus ratings

Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 279 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 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 279 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
50/100
 !
06/10/2026 06:46 brent13  Ratings distribution  2,09167/100
 
75/100
 !
01/26/2026 18:43 BurndenAce  Ratings distribution  1,23276/100
 
80/100
 !
12/21/2025 10:40 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  12,67070/100
 
80/100
 !
12/07/2025 12:37 Araldo  Ratings distribution  1,47280/100
 
70/100
 !
08/22/2025 14:06 an-outlaw  Ratings distribution  52574/100

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 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 79.6/100, a mean average of 78.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.4.

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Pithecanthropus Erectus comments

Showing all 9 comments |
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Rating:  
90/100
From 04/29/2023 15:05 | #296480 | TOP COMMENT
An excellent album, and certainly ahead of its time. The playing, at times, is prescient of the soon-to-be-arriving Avant-garde Jazz Movement. The playing is somewhere between Hard Bob and Pre-Avant-Garde. Although its middle two pieces do not match the sweeping creativity and performances of the bookend works, the album is still an essential listen for any fan of Jazz. 9/10!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 09/06/2022 15:48 | #289319
Cant go wrong with Mingus
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
65/100
From 08/05/2022 23:42 | #288153 | TOP COMMENT
A more experimental release from Mingus that leads to some highly interesting moments but also some parts that sound a little scattered. Starting with the highs we have the fantastic 1st and 3rd tracks which are the best on the record. They are so energetic and exciting to listen to with both of them having outstanding performances on them. All the performers seem to come together perfectly on those two songs as they just sound so cohesive and free flowing. However, I do find track 2 to be quite dull and it is missing the flare of the other two songs I previously mentioned. Then there is Love Chant which has some genius moments that sound amazing to the ears but it isn't maintained for the 15 minutes of the song and they do lose their way around the middle section of the record. Overall, some interesting and engaging work present on here and it is definitely worth exploring but this isn't amongst his best work.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 07/04/2022 09:54 | #287080
Very good experimental jazz album, very innovative.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 11/11/2021 17:09 | #276165 | TOP COMMENT
This is really the Mingus chaos record, which works for some but not everyone. I like it, though.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 10/22/2020 09:46 | #259561 | TOP COMMENT
Better than Clown. Some interesting stuff on here. Sometimes sounds all over the place which can be either amazing or off-putting.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 02/18/2020 15:01 | #247948
Um passo além do bibop!!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 11/16/2019 16:07 | #244925
I like how varied and wild this thing is, it's like no other jazz record of the time. Impressive experimentation in a genre that at the time I think wasn't very fond to it.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 01/29/2016 00:49 | #158025 | TOP COMMENT
Pushing the boundaries and I like it. Jazz isn't really my thing, but I like how they did things different in this... blowing whistles and the such.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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