Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um

It wails a little too much at times but don't get scared: it's probably the most popular album Mingus ever did and this is one of the few cases when general public is right: it's worth buying. Yeah, one of those albums that are worth $100, but only with high-quality package and original cover art. It's very long (9 tracks). It's also overflowing with ideas: that's strange, really, because when you listen to it it's very calm and... dreamy. Everybody has his own place - it's hard to describe. The silence is great!

Except for the first track, maybe, this album isn't meant to be played loud.


I immediately fell in love with "Fables Of Faubus" and "Better Git It In Your Soul". The 2nd one is without doubt my favorite jazz track ever: forget what I wrote before. "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" is everyone's love. I find "Pussy Cat Dues" and "Jelly Roll" a duet of very pleasant closing tracks, they're moody. "Open Letter to Duke" is of course a tribute to Duke Ellington, although "Bird Calls", according to Mingus himself, has nothing to do with Charlie Parker. It doesn't really matter, does it? Hailed are also Lester Young and Jelly Roll Morton. Mingus has quite a taste :)

It might be eccentric and offbeat, but not for usual Mingus standards. It's just a quick review of jazz styles and imitations of greats of the past, but you might as well not even notice it: album's production is great. It has this very kind of consistent sound. You just hear it was recorded during one day (on a side note: was it really? :)).

Two trombones, three saxophones, a piano and usual rhythm section... Unique sound... Results? One of the 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry in 2003. It speaks for itself :)

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 ;-)