Charles Mingus

Great review in latest issue of The Wire - sounds like the first four (Dolphy-assisted) discs are pretty essential

How long do these 'first listen' things stay up? I have to work today and don't have the internet at work! Really wanna hear this...

They usually stay up at least for a week

might as well post this here
iTunes Mingus bargains (Europe, at least)
3 in 1 for €4.99, a collection containing Mingus Ah Um, Lionel's Sessions, Pithecanthropus Erectus and The Clown. Yep, that's four!
Mingus at Carnegie Hall for €1.99

Mingus at Carnegie Hall is a sadly overlooked record. Roland Kirk is on fire.

that's the one w/ just two tracks right? and kirk hits that insane note and just holds it for eternity or something?

yep. Wish there was more from those sessions - apparently it barely scratch the surface of what they were like.

yeah reading that bio reminded me i need to hear more of his 70s stuff.

Carnegie is two tracks. Just about to play them on my way home from work :)
AMG says that release misses the opening set and the "freer finale"

Listening to this now, and yes, it's as overwhelmingly brilliant as you'd expect.

My dad saw Mingus -- the group with Dolphy, Byard, Coles, Jordan et al -- in January, 1964 at the Five Spot, two nights running. When I asked him what it was like, he paused, stared off into the distance, and said, "It was one of the greatest experiences of my life."

I wish I too had been there to see the godfather of the upright bass.

It's not just a ruckus jubilation.

The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jibeass Slippers

sorry to hear of ted curson's recent passing - the fake 'live' alb he's on w/ dolphy is prob my fave mingus rec

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/205629_601371096556572_400376268_n.jpg
salvador shared this over on facebook, pretty rad.

hahaha, even juke box operators hate him!

On one of the sets on the new Mosaic box (think it's My Favorite Quintet) he asks the audience not to buy his Columbia or Impulse records, but RCA is ok: "They must make enough from the atomic bomb to pay their musicians."

Charles Morbsus

lol, the precursor to the "language professors HATE him!" ads

Why did juke box operators hate him, because of the lengthy songs?

He decked one for playing one of his singles at the wrong speed

The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jiveass Slippers

where have I heard the opening bar of Moanin' from Blues and Roots? It sounds so familiar, but whosampled only mentions a French hiphop song I'm not that familiar with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__OSyznVDOY&feature=kp

I remember reading about this in 1989-1990, when it was in the pre-planning stages. Had no idea it actually happened -- apparently it was shown on the BBC in 1993, and released on laserdisc.

Directed by Ray Davies!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPNhnIwT920

Ha, whoops, no, let's try that again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8b6KdnnM8Y

Reading the newish Mingus Speaks book of interviews and am reminded I enjoy Mingus more as a personality than as a composer. He's never moved me, except as a bassist in small groups. His ambitions were certainly noble, I just find his chamber jazz / big band music ponderous and dull. I'm probably the only one, though, judging by previous conversations with a wide range of music fans (including my wife, who loves Mingus to death).

you must fundamentally misunderstand something about listening to music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqZk8KP6xjo

Does anyone know what song sampled that opening piano riff from "Trio and Group Dancers"? I want to say that it's a trip hop song.

And pretty sure that it features a female vocalist.

I can't believe how long I've slept on Charles Mingus. It's embarrassing, but what a treasure for someone who has been starved for something new.
orchestral and cinematic, but it also swings and is full of soul. The last six months or so I been listening to these as much as possible:

Pithecanthropus Erectus (1956, Atlantic)
The Clown (1957, Atlantic)
Tijuana Moods (RCA, 1957 [1962])
Blues & Roots (1959, Atlantic)
Mingus Ah Um (1959, Columbia)
Mingus Dynasty (1959, Columbia)
Mingus at Antibes (1960, Atlantic)
Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (1960, Candid)
Mingus! (1960, Candid)
Oh Yeah (1961, Atlantic)
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963, Impulse!)
Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (1963, Impulse!; sometimes referred to as Five Mingus)
Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy Cornell 1964 (Blue Note, 1964 [2007])
Let My Children Hear Music (Columbia, 1972)

Charles Mingus had so many different types of tunes. The guy liked to play raw bluesy stuff trying to get some type of constant gospel call and response improvisation between the horns and piano. Then Mingus dares these European classical music pieces or orchestrated big band pieces, dense pieces of harmony. Mingus also came out of be-bop, so he's got that down too. Charles Mingus was a musician at another level and his recorded output is pretty staggering. I got to figure anything he ever did is worth listening to at least once.

Yesterday my daughter insisted on turning up mingus ah um. That was unexpected.

Be sure to check out Jazz Portrait: Mingus in Wonderland. John Handy and Booker Ervin!

My dad saw Mingus two nights running at the Five Spot in late 1963 -- same lineup (Dolphy, Jordan, Richmond, Byard, Coles) as the 1964 Town Hall/European dates. When I asked him what it was like, he paused, stared off into the distance and said quietly, "It was one of the greatest experiences of my life."

that's beautiful

That run from 1956 up to Eric Dolphy's death in 1964 is just a ton of good records. Blues and Roots and The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady are probably my favorites, but all of them are good.

My dad saw Mingus two nights running at the Five Spot in late 1963
it is crazy -- i've talked to someone who saw a bunch of NYC jazz in the late 50s/early 60s and it's like these titans of 20th century american music playing tiny clubs. and he says the clubs were rarely very crowded! just mind boggling.

i mean, the same is true today.

I'm actually feeling really optimistic lately, because I'm going to (and hearing reports of) jazz shows that are packed - I went to the Village Vanguard the other week to see drummer Rudy Royston's sextet and almost didn't get in! And I heard that Darius Jones did a show at the Jazz Gallery last week that was basically sold out, too. And I'm expecting a full house when I go see Kamasi Washington tonight. I've been to enough jazz shows with maybe two dozen people in the audience - including shows by artists that get tons of press, like Rob Mazurek - that this feels like a genuine shift. We'll see how long it lasts.

Until summer vacation is over for the foreign tourists?

Is it possibly a post-Whiplash thing?

Well, last night it was definitely the result of Washington's album getting reviewed in places like Pitchfork and Spin and Rolling Stone that normally don't give a wet fart about jazz. The crowd was very young. The three strangers seated at my table were two tech bros, one of whom was ridiculing the other for having missed the most recent Purity Ring show, and a girl who worked in marketing or something - she kept talking about how some other girl was shit talking her to her team. All three agreed that this show would have been better at Le Poisson Rouge.

Anyway, the show itself was great. Thundercat guested on bass, and they also brought up an alto saxophonist and a trumpeter on different songs (the core band was Washington, a trombonist, a female vocalist, a pianist, an upright bassist, and two drummers). I bought a T-shirt.

Oddly I woke up with "Weird Nightmare" in my head this morning

I love those old jazz anecdotes! Like the Pepper Adams/Mingus one: Adams shows up at Mingus' apartment for a rehearsal, and Mingus is on the phone with someone at the Musicians Union, yelling and cursing "You white motherfucker! Someday I'm gonna get a machine gun and kill all you white motherfuckers!" Then he interrupts himself, turns to Adams and says "Cold beer in the fridge, Pepper" as courteous as can be, before continuing his tirade.
― Myonga Vön Bontee, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 15:14 (8 years ago) Bookmark

The BBC prom for Charles Mingus is really good damn fun, with some fine playing:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b092nc5j

it is still not available, but I'll deffo check that out later or tomorrow.

Slightly offtopic, but I was listening to a 10 year old Coltrane death anniversary broadcast from the R3 archives earlier. The Liebman/Lovano one that has recently been released. That one is really good as well.

There is a Mingus solo piano album that exists that is very nice

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mingus_Plays_Piano

This BBC Proms Mingus thing on telly is amazing rn