Changes One

Charles Mingus

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 17, 1993)
• Original Release Date: December 27, 1974
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic / Wea
• ASIN: B00000332D
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #108,657 in Music (See Bestsellers 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 the Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 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

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.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Few musicians are as honest as Mingus., March 31, 2003

By	Heath T. Busen (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The albums Changes I and II are both in a class all to themselves. Why these albums aren't talked about more is a mystery to me, because they both contain some of the most emotional music that Mingus ever wrote. These are the classics folks and for those of us who are jazz musicians and strive to play a music that is about intensity, honesty and even madness, you can look no further for the prototype....Mingus. George Adams tenor saxophonist extraordinaire is frigin unbelievable and before these albums I'd never even heard of the guy, the things he can do on that horn can only be described as total freedom, George has no limitations to the amount of soul and the depths he can plunge, taking you the listener with him. Sax players get this album and prepare to be humbled, I'm a guitarist and even I realize an unparallel genius on a horn when I hear him. Don Pullen the keyboardist was considered a avant-garde player in his time, but I've always scratched my head and wondered why because the guy can play inside with best of them and he does on this album, with that said he's one of the few players that can keep it all together even when playing outside the harmonic framework. Needles to say Don fits perfectly and without him I don't even think these albums would have been fully realized. I purchased Changes I&II fourteen years ago and I'm still in ah of this music.

6 of 7 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

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