East Coasting [Original recording remastered]

Charles Mingus, Charles Mingus With Bill Evans | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 2, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Shout Factory
• ASIN: B0009Y26SQ
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,606 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Memories of You [Take 7]

2. East Coasting [Take 4]

3. West Coast Ghost [Take 6]

4. Celia [Take 5]

5. Conversation [Take 16]

6. Fifty-First Street Blues [Take 4]

7. East Coasting [Alternate Take 3][*]

8. Memories of You [Alternate Take 3][*]

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This sextet session dates from 1957, when the volcanic bassist and composer was first assembling his Jazz Workshop. Mingus had already put together the core of the band that would reach its summit two years later with Mingus Ah Um, including saxophonist Shafi Hadi, trombonist Jimmy Knepper, and drummer Dannie Richmond, who would be with Mingus's bands for the next two decades. The music has Mingus's distinct stamp, the rhythmic aggressiveness, sudden time (and mood) shifts, contrapuntal themes, and a palette of sounds that reaches back through bop to early jazz for the vocalizing, plunger-muted horns. His bass often sounds like articulate thunder as he presses his musicians toward a unique musical vision. Completing the group are two striking soloists: the seldom-heard trumpeter Clarence Shaw, best known for his work on Mingus's contemporaneous New Tijuana Moods, who combines thoughtful hesitancy and melodic daring; and pianist Bill Evans, whose distinctive musical presence and lyric imagination add to Mingus's often dense harmonies. The turbulent "West Coast Ghost" and the emotionally charged "Celia" stand out. --Stuart Broomer

Product Description

The composer and bass player Charles Mingus recorded East Coasting for Bethlehem in 1957, in between such classics as Tijuana Moods (RCA) and Mingus Ah Um (Columbia). In addition to featuring an early version of "Celia," along with some numbers he never recorded again, East Coasting is notable for the presence of pianist Bill Evans, who briefly worked for Mingus before joining Miles Davis for the landmark Kind Of Blue.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Mighty Mingus, June 26, 2006

By 

Jim Newsom (Norfolk, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: East Coasting (Audio CD)

Charles Mingus was one of the great jazz composers and bassists. His career began with stints in the bands of Kid Ory and Louis Armstrong in the early `40s when he was barely out of his teens. He went on to become a monster in the jazz world, both as a musician and as a larger-than-life personality known for his anger at racial injustice and his one-man war with the music industry.

His 1959 masterpiece, Mingus Ah Um, is an essential in any jazz collection, and Pithecanthropus Erectus, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus and The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady are also required listening. East Coasting, recorded in August, 1957, is not as well known, but its resurrection as part of Shout! Factory's reissue program of classic albums from the catalog of the long defunct Bethlehem record label has its share of masterful moments, compositionally and in its arrangements, that should bring it a deserved reevaluation and overdue recognition.

Many of the standard Mingus musical tricks are on display here, from the finely crafted melodic statements to the free-flowing group improvisations. "Celia" foreshadows "Self Portrait in Three Colors" on Mingus Ah Um, the title track cooks with fine-tuned bop precision, and "West Coast Ghost" purrs with echoes of Ellington but with that cross-horn interplay so distinctive to the bassist's writing. The opening harmonies of "Conversation" are almost Oliver Nelson-ish, but devolve soon enough into the trademark phrase trading commonplace in Mingus' music.

The sextet lineup includes Mingus stalwarts Jimmy Knepper on trombone and Dannie Richmond behind the drums, while the piano chair is occupied by Bill Evans just months before he joined Miles Davis for what would be a seminal but short lived partnership ultimately yielding Kind of Blue. --Jim Newsom

Originally published in Port Folio Weekly - January 10, 2006
Copyright 2006 Port Folio Weekly. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Overlooked, but essential., March 16, 2001

By 

wordnat "wordnat" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: East Coasting (Audio CD)

This record isn't usually mentioned when people discuss Charles Mingus -- granted, his complex discography makes it easy to overlook quite a few notable sessions -- and that's a shame because "East Coasting" is an excellent, energetic, and joyful recording. The snappy title cut and the gorgeous treatment of the standard "Memories of You" are worth the price of admission alone. This obscure gem is not just for completists -- it's prime Mingus. Check it out!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The more I listen..., January 13, 2001

By 

Demosthenes Reborn (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: East Coasting (Audio CD)

...the more I love this album. This is not typical Mingus recording. However, it is classic bop. Incredible tight and smooth play by all the musicians involved. The title track "East Coasting" is especially good.