Charles Mingus - East Coasting (1957)

Early Mingus with a small but perfectly-chosen group, and five top-notch compositions by the man himself topped off with a rendition of Memories Of You.  East Coasting is a gorgeous, accessible album, not least with Bill Evans behind the keys, and the mellow moments of this record are particularly enjoyable - the lengthy take of Celia is probably my highlight.  There are moments that cook and swing too, in the lengthy quick-slow arrangement of West Coast Ghost and the breezy title track.  Defintely deserves to be as celebrated as the better-known, major label entries in Mingus' catalogue.

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pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG:
Jazz Portraits: Mingus In Wonderland 
Oh Yeah

Tijuana Moods
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady  
Mingus Plays Piano  
Let My Children Hear Music

Mingus Moves
Changes One & Two
Cumbia & Jazz Fusion
plus:  

The Quintet: Jazz At Massey Hall
Blue Moods  
Money Jungle  
BBC Proms Tribute by Metropole Orkest

Charles Mingus - TIjuana Moods (rec. 1957, rel. 1962)

A nice bit of summery Mingus, inspired by a trip to Tijuana and recorded in July-August 1957, but due to contractual/financial complications the recording went unreleased by RCA until five years later.  After a swinging opener in Dizzy Moods, inspired by the titular figure's Woody 'N You, the music starts to take a more explicitly Mexican turn with the castanet-led Ysabel's Table Dance for an exhilarating ten minutes.  

 

The album's second half kicks off with the brief but complex Tijuana Gift Shop with its memorable ducking and weaving melody, then another lengthy track follows.  Los Mariachis features Mingus calling out the way through a bluesy introduction (which will be returned to), then more Latin-inflected melodies and rhythms fill out the subsequent sections to give another highlight to the album.  To close, we get a gorgeous rendition of Ted Grouya's jazz standard Flamingo.  A cracking early Mingus album that deserves to be just as celebrated as its better-known siblings.

link

pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG:
Jazz Portraits: Mingus In Wonderland 
Oh Yeah  
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady  
Mingus Plays Piano  
Let My Children Hear Music

Mingus Moves
Changes One & Two
Cumbia & Jazz Fusion
plus:  

The Quintet: Jazz At Massey Hall
Blue Moods  
Money Jungle  
BBC Proms Tribute by Metropole Orkest

Charles Mingus - Mingus Moves (1974)

After Let My Children Hear Music, his last hurrah for CBS, Charles Mingus returned to Atlantic Records for the rest of his final decade.  He assembled a new band around reedsman George Adams, pianist Don Pullen and drummer Dannie Richmond: this would be the group that recorded his other late masterpieces Changes One & Two (all links below).

Falling in between these late-career peaks, Mingus Moves (recorded in October 1973) sometimes gets lost in the shuffle or just plain underrated, but it's a great record in its own right.  Mingus' compositional touch was still strong, in the opening Canon (a deft bit of arranging that does what it says on the tin), and Opus 3 & 4, all classic pieces of writing & playing.

In between there's tracks penned by Let My Children.... arranger Sy Johnson (Wee), by band members Adams (the lovely Flowers For A Lady), and Pullen (the serene Newcomer), and an old-style ballad written by Doug Hammond and sung by him in duet with Honi Gordon that gives the album its title.  An album well worth having in any Mingus collection.

link
pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG:
Jazz Portraits: Mingus In Wonderland 
Oh Yeah  
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady  
Mingus Plays Piano  
Let My Children Hear Music
Changes One & Two
Cumbia & Jazz Fusion
plus:  
Blue Moods  
Money Jungle  
BBC Proms Tribute by Metropole Orkest

Charles Mingus - Jazz Portraits: Mingus In Wonderland (1959)

A fresh, breezy and swinging live set from January 1959, captured as part of a series of 'Jazz Portraits' concerts at the Nonagon Art Gallery, NYC.  The resulting LP went through numerous album covers and permutations of the title, with this version opting for both 'Jazz Portraits' and 'Mingus In Wonderland'.

With John Handy on alto, Booker Ervin on tenor, Richard Wyands on piano and Dannie Richmond on piano, Mingus underpins the group in his usual formidable style through three originals and one bit of classic Gershwin.  The two tracks that bookend the album - the cityscape blues of Nostalgia In Times Square and the gorgeous Alice's Wonderland - were written for John Cassavetes' debut feature Shadows, but most of Mingus' music was apparently cut from the final version.  In between are a lovely take on I Can't Get Started and a spectacular blues rave-up, No Private Income Blues.  Enjoy the sound of Mingus kicking off one of the most golden years of his career in style.

link
pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG:  
Oh Yeah  
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady  
Mingus Plays Piano  
Let My Children Hear Music
Changes One & Two
Cumbia & Jazz Fusion
plus:  
Blue Moods  
Money Jungle  
BBC Proms Tribute by Metropole Orkest

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (1963)

Simply Mingus the composer and arranger at his absolute pinnacle.  Maybe some aficionados of Let My Children Hear Music, or even Ah Um, would disagree?  For me though, even those don't come close to the perfection of writing, arranging, great grooves and deeply felt soul of this January 1963 recording.  With possibly the first use of overdubs on a jazz record too (anyone know any different?), The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady hit a new level of sonic sophistication that still leaps out of the speakers/headphones today.

Each track title is basically a dance notation, as this album was written as a ballet of sorts, if never performed as such - Solo Dancer, Duet Solo Dancers, Group Dancers etc - and the lengthy subtitles are where the clues are to Mingus' intentions lay for what he was expressing in the music.  So the album opens with, to give it its full title, Track A - Solo Dancer: Stop! Look ! And Listen, Sinner Jim Whitey! (or is it Whitney? spellings vary across different pressings).  In this track, as Mingus' psychotherapist Dr Edmund Pollock (yup, he was asked to review the music) notes in the liner, Charlie Mariano's alto sax solo acts as "a voice calling to others and saying "I am alone, please, please join me!" as the orchestral themes swirl around it.

There's a lot going on here, then, but this album shouldn't necessarily be regarded as 'difficult Mingus' - it's really not.  There's achingly gorgeous melody and harmony everywhere, repeated themes, and great grooves.  Only the side-long track that contains parts D through F takes a few goes to properly navigate, but it's a stunning achievement in orchestral jazz that's hugely satisfying once you get used to it.  Little interludes are provided for things like Mingus' piano, and Jay Berliner (who I only knew from Astral Weeks before I heard this album) playing bits of Spanish guitar, to evoke "the period of the Spanish Inquisition, and El Greco's mood of oppressive poverty and death".  Yes, there's weighty themes here, much of it Mingus' reflection of the Black American experience, but there's much joy too.  To finish, and to sum up the album really, here's the full title of the final section: Of Love, Pain, and Promised Revolt, Then Farewell, My Beloved, 'Til It's Freedom Day.

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