Charles Mingus - Oh Yeah

It was recorded in November of 1961 in Atlantic Studios in New York City. All of the album's tracks are written by Mingus who for unknown reason didn't play bass on this session but moved to piano. Doug Watkins played bass and Dannie Richmond drums, making it an outrageous rhythm section. Jimmy Knepper (trombone), Booker Ervin (tenor sax) and Rahsaan Roland Kirk (everything else) all played beyond words, jamming and improvising on Mingus compositions like they were their own.


This is the strangest piece of music I've heard in a long time. Mingus shouts quickly made-up lyrics, Kirk plays on multiple saxophones at once, and the last track ("Passions Of A Man") makes a great soundtrack for a torture scene or cheap BDSM porn. "Eat That Chicken" is a lovely up-tempo number, very positive and all. I especially loved Mingus describing how much he wanted to chew it ;-) "Ecclusiastics" is my favorite from here. A kind of gospel-jazz, a track divine! Amazing horns and piano. The main riff gets stuck in your head. Piano solos are exceptionable, the fact that Mingus isn't a professional pianist shouldn't worry anyone. He's better than one might think!

"Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am" and "Oh Lord Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me" are all as cool as their names. Maybe it's not the best Mingus album, but surely it is one of the best jazz albums ever. Talk about wildness.

I still have to track down 3 bonus tracks from the same sessions... Facts are promising. Four out of seven tracks here are absolute masterpieces, the rest of them are still 10/10 or pretty near. It's really the same old hard bop but the fastest I've heard in a long time. I guess my girl would dance to it ;-)