Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus

Charles Mingus | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 24, 2000)
• Original Release Date: 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Candid Records
• ASIN: B00004Z3R3
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,456 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #31 in Music > Indie Music > Jazz > Avant-Garde

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Bassist-composer Charles Mingus had a reputation for volatile creativity and the ability to press his sidemen to their limits. That said, there's precious little in the Mingus canon that reaches the levels of intensity and unfettered invention of this extraordinary quartet session from November 1960. Mingus and saxophonist Eric Dolphy were clearly at creative peaks. Mingus's open forms facilitate Dolphy's freedom, and Dolphy's virtuosity and vocal expressiveness (laughing, whinnying, crying, shrieking) on alto and bass clarinet lend Mingus the greatest solo voice his music ever enjoyed. They push the principle of musical dialogue to the point where speech seems about to break out on "Folk Forms No. 1" and in the bass-bass clarinet chatter and grieving of "What Love."

In a way, speech does break out. "Original Faubus Fables," previously recorded as "Fables of Faubus" on Mingus Ah Um, gets the lyrics earlier denied it by Columbia Records. Mingus and drummer Dannie Richmond damn Arkansas's notoriously racist governor, with the bassist calling out, "Why is he so sick and ridiculous, Dannie?" Richmond and trumpeter Ted Curson are excellent players and the sheer tumult carries them to the performances of their careers. Mingus's writing often uses tension-building repeated figures, and Dolphy and Curson virtually function as reed and brass sections at times. It contributes to the illusion of a much larger group, a cauldron of unspoken pain and fresh energies that seems almost too much for any quartet to deliver.

A fifth performance from the session, an extended-band feature for Dolphy's alto on Fats Waller's "Stormy Weather," has never been included on a CD with the rest of the session. Well worth seeking out, it currently appears on Candid Dolphy. --Stuart Broomer

Product Description

This is perhaps the most cohesive set Mingus ever made, recorded during a crisis of personnel in 1960. After many months with Mingus, Eric Dolphy and Ted Curson had decided to leave. These sessions and a few to follow for Mingus and the Jazz Artists Guild were to be their last tie with Mingus. He decided to set the mood that might resemble a night in the club, hence his announcements on the recording and the reason he wanted the lights turned out during the recording. In these sessions, everyone reached and maintained that level of daring to make their instruments become extensions of themselves.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most incredible moments in Jazz ever recorded, December 29, 2000

By 

C. Robinson (San Mateo, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (Audio CD)

This is one of those albums where, for whatever reason, a group got together and nailed it better than they ever had in the past. They read each others minds, locked in, and played music that spoke on a higher level than any of the four guys were normally capable of. And, lucky for us, the tape was rolling. Like Miles' 'Kind of Blue', like Ellington's 'Live at Newport', this is one of those moments that demostrate what an amazing art form Jazz can be.

This was recorded during Mingus' Jazz Workshop days. His group (Dannie Richmond, Ted Curson, & Eric Dolphy) had a regular club gig, but rather than 'perform' in the traditional sense, they would basically hold live rehearsals: try new things, experiment, learn, & grow. This particular group had been together for a while and was soon coming to an end (Dolphy was about to strike out on his own). Mingus pulled them into the studio to cut what they had been doing on wax.

Although a studio recording, Mingus treats it just like a regular Workshop club date, he even talks to the 'audience' (admonishing them, in true Mingus fashion, to please be quiet so they don't bother the band!). The opening bars of 'Folk Forms No. 1' almost have a 'here we go again...' quality. No one expected the night to go as well as it did. You can hear their enthusiasm build as the album plays, the energy level increases to stirring levels as the guys realize that they are making history here.

This album contains the definitive version of 'Fables of Faubus' (with Dannie Richmond screaming furiously at Gov. Faubus), and a fiery 'All the Things You Could Be...'. However, the crowning achievement of the date is 'What Love'. This is the track that put Eric Dolphy on the map for me. The piece culminates around a 'conversation' between Mingus' bass and Dolphy's bass clarinet...much, much better than the version on 'Live at Antibes'. This is probably the most expressive, evocative piece of musicianship that I know of. The liner notes offer a translation of what is 'said', but to me its stunning not for the words but the emotions that are expressed. Two bright stars (Dolphy, it would turn out, a Supernova) sharing feelings probably the only way they, as men, knew how.

You'd expect Mingus & Dolphy to steal the show, but that's not to say the other guys had a bad night. The highly under-rated Ted Curson lays it down something fierce, and Richmond is his usual 'united-with-Mingus-at-the-sub-atomic-level', hard swinging, high energy self.

A must-have for Mingus fans, and a great introduction to what he was about besides playing the hits on 'Mingus Ah-Hum'. Beyond that, this album is a stunning testament to the power of improvised music.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Punk Rock Jazz? Ah Um. Sure., March 1, 2003

By 

musicburgler "genegreen" (DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (Audio CD)

This is one of my favorite all out no holds barred jazz albums. I'm more of a fan of the smaller units simply because you can hear each individual instrument better. Everyone playing on this simply grooves and the sound is Basic, Raw and actual seems like the live album it supposedly is.

Eric Dolphy's circular improvisation style is hear, full of sudden starts and stops in just the right places. Ted Curson's trumpet playing is just as good and in some spots, the two horns can be heard switching leads and intertwining so much that sometimes its hard to tell which is Curson and which is Dolphy.

Mingus himself obviously gets a more upfront role in this quartet than in his big band work. Some of the bass lines and solos he creates send my head bobbing and weaving.
Of course no great Mingus album is without the hard driving drums of Dannie Richmond.

As far as the actual pieces my favorite are the first two, FOLK FORMS NO. 1 and ORIGINAL FAUBUS FABLES. The former starts the album off with a bang and is more straight ahead bop style jazz than anything else on here. It is the 2nd longest piece but it goes by fast. Everyone takes a pretty even part in it as well.

ORIGINAL FAUBUS FABLES is the unrealeased version of the piece that appears on AH UM but this includes the intended vocals. A sarcastic "tribute" to racist Arkansas governor Orval Faubus who tried to prevent black students from attending the University despite federal law. Mingus and Dannie Richmond sing lines like, "Why is he so sick and ridiculous?...Dannie Richmond?" "They brain wash and teach you hate!!" the two yell. "Boo Nazi Facist Extremists!" " Governor Faubus!!" Its more something you have to hear for yourself.

WHAT LOVE takes things down a notch and is more of a ballad type piece. This is the longest cut and it can get long to listen to all the time especially after the first 2. The highlight of this however is the famed "conversation" that Eric Dolphy and Mingus have through the voices of their instruments. If you've never heard it you should, its magical. It sounds as if they are actual verbalizing, slowly "saying" things like "hey whats up?" "Yeah?" Yeah." They ask each other more chit chat type questions and answers, Then it gets more intense slowly rising until they are at one point "screaming" at each other, but they settle their differences before things get too much out of hand.

The last piece ALL THE THINGS YOU COULD BE BY NOW IF SIGMUND FREUD'S WIFE WAS YOUR MOTHER, is not as strange as you might think. Its more a mid tempo ballad but not as standout as anything else on the album, still good though.

This was the first album I heard from Mingus and Dolphy and it remains in my top five jazz album list to this day. Its the raw emotion, passion, sensitivity, humor, and skill that the genre Jazz really means, A MUST OWN OR MUST LISTEN TO ALBUM!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Best Albums Of Mingus and Jazz!, April 8, 2001

By 

M. Scagnelli (Brandon, Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (Audio CD)

Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus is a very essential jazz album. This album really captures the turmoil that would surround jazz in the 1960s. Charles Mingus, easily one of the best jazz bassists of all time, leads an incredible quartet, including Ted Curson on trumpet, Eric Dolphy on sax (and many other instuments) and, of course, Dannie Richmond on drums. With a band that good, it would be hard to make a not great album. This album, however, is incredible.

Of the four songs on the album, there is not one that I would not call incredible. The album starts off with Mingus telling the imaginary "audience" to not applaud, ring the cash register or rattle the ice in their drinks. Mingu sthen introduces the band and the go into Folk Forms, No. 1. This is possibly the most complex songs on the album and one of the best. Mingus' bassline is great and Dolphy sax is incredible. Next, the band plays the highly contraversial Original Faubus Fables, which is a type of protest song against the racist governor of Arkansas who segregated schools. Mingus and Richmond sing over the classic bass and saxophone line, leading to some really increible solos by Dolphy and Curson. The band follows this with What Love, which is more of a slow, ballad. The musicianship is still incredible. The last song, All the Things You Could Be By Now If Sigmund Freud's Wife Was Your Mother, is more then just a great title. It closes of the album with the same level of excellence as the other three songs.

I'm not sure of any album is flawless, but Mingus Presents Chalres Mingus comes extremely close. The music is incredible and complex, and all four songs are jazz masterpieces that you will need to listen to at least three of four times. An essentila album to fans of the legendary bassist and to anybody interested in jazz.