Changes One

Charles Mingus | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 17, 1993)
• Original Release Date: 1975
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic
• ASIN: B00000332D
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,727 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Of Charles Mingus's late-period recordings, the best are this and its follow-up, Changes Two, both recorded in 1974. Mingus hadn't led a band with an end-to-end cohesiveness and lasting power like this one since the 1964 group that recorded Revenge: The Legendary Paris Concerts. Tenor saxophonist George Adams, pianist Don Pullen, and trumpeter Jack Walrath made a wicked team, with Adams and Walrath combining poignant bluesy sensibilities and heartfelt emotional power. Adams had a power on tenor sax that exceeded most of the horn's players in both his phrasing and his solo architecture. The tunes on Changes One echo Mingus's political bent but do so in a way that seems to balance fury, ennui, and church-inflected shouts. Of particular note also is Adams's vocal belting on "Devil Blues." Vocals in a Mingus group haven't sounded this good since Oh Yeah. --Andrew Bartlett

Product Description

UK reissue of 1974 album. WSM. 2005. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite all-time records, June 8, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Kathmandu, Nepal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Changes One (Audio CD)

I've had this one and companion, Changes II, since they came out on LP in '75, and have since got 'em on CD. I've not heard any Mingus that surpasses them (or much of anything that surpasses them), and they remain among my favorite records of all time. George Adams invents a whole new style of improvisation - noise metamorphasizing into beautiful melody, huge tone, back of the brain ideas spewing forth. Don Pullen is the great jazz pianist in that his discourse (like on D.Ellington's Sound of Love) transcends "jazz piano," that horribly predictable group of cliches that most players strive to master and the greats strive to avoid. Mingus at his best uses the jazz idiom to create wonderful music. This group and this music is as good as it gets, as far as I've been able to hear.

I'd put Mingus at Antibes really close to the top too, but Changes I and II, are just magical. And you only have to buy one at a time! What a marketing concept! If you dig it, you'll certainly buy the companion set.

Orange was the color of her dress - it's the best! Mingus walking down into and then up out of the chaos. God this is good stuff. But, give it a little time to sink in. Enjoy.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars People say Mingus is BAD for a reason..., January 28, 2001

By 

An opinionated Jazz Fan (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Changes One (Audio CD)

Both this album and its predecessor are two bright points in the 70's jazz canon. This is Mingus at his best. The fury is there, the passion is there, and Jack Walrath and George Adams are there. This is seriously a high point of jazz no matter what the time period, and it is yet again more proof that Mingus was a helluva bandleader, easily on par with Blakey or Miles. If you're looking for some music that can challenge its listeners and still be very listenable, this, along with Changes One, is your album.

Keep Your Ears Open,

Paul

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Among the finest jazz albums, November 2, 2006

By 

M. Rosenblum (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Changes One (Audio CD)

I've been listening to these albums since their original release in 1974. I had the great fortune to be at a Mingus concert in Boston in the late 70's at which they played several of the cuts on the Changes albums. A few personnel changes from the album (Ricky Ford replacing George Adams) but Don Pullen was amazing. I consider Mingus to be among the best American composer. He seems to have the ability to get the musicians in the band to 'give' more of themselves than any other band leader. I could wax poetic about this for a long time....