Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Charles Mingus

Charles Mingus, Ken Burns JAZZ Collection | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 7, 2000)
• Original Release Date: November 7, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000050HVV
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #219,537 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Haitian Fight Song

2. Ysabel's Table Dance

3. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

4. Better Git It In Your Soul

5. Original Faubus Fables

6. Peggy's Blue Skylight

7. Eat That Chicken

8. Solo Dancer

9. Mood Indigo

10. The Shoes Of The Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jive Ass Slippers

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Bassist Charles Mingus was known for his hot-headed behavior and outrageous statements, but those extracurriculars are secondary to the magical music he created. This compilation is part of the 22-CD single-artist series that is the bulk of the musical component for Ken Burns's documentary Jazz. Featuring nine tracks, this is an accurate but thumbnail profile of one of jazz's most complex and gifted musicians. Many will remember the incorporation of "Haitian Fight Song" as the soundtrack to a VW car advertisement, but the sentimental beauty of "Goodbye, Porkpie Hat," the urgency of "Better Get Hit in Your Soul," and the cover of Ellington's "Mood Indigo" reveal a musical portrait that is strikingly broad and beautiful. More varied in his influences than many jazzmen, Mingus incorporated such disparate influences as Ellington, gospel, Mexican music, Dixieland, European masters, and even politics. Probably the most challenging of bop greats, Charles Mingus is an iconoclastic icon whose music never severed its tie with its roots, even as he continually broke new ground. --Tad Hendrickson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a good introduction, January 16, 2001

By 

Joseph D. Martin "M Lucky" (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Charles Mingus (Audio CD)

I haven't heard this CD, but as someone who owns a couple dozen Mingus albums, I can see by the song selection that this is a pretty good overview of Mingus' career. Purists will argue that consumers would be better off just buying classic Mingus recordings like "Ah Um," "East Coasting," "The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady" and "Changes One" separately, and there's some merit to that argument. You simply can't encapsulate the career of a musician like Mingus on one disc, and more serious listeners might well want to proceed to the aforementioned CDs, each of which gives a more complete sense of Mingus' ideas during one particular period. But for the person who's just watched Ken Burns' Jazz and is seeking a convenient entry point/overview for Mingus, this disc will not disappoint. It contains the must-have classics like "Haitian Fight Song," "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" and "Better Get it in Your Soul" as well as a piece of the long suite, "The Black Saint..." Enjoy, but beware: you may soon find yourself wanting more.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, June 29, 2001

By 

G. Sawaged - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Charles Mingus (Audio CD)

Before buying this album I really wasn't that familiar with Mingus. And that is the great thing about the Ken Burn's Jazz Series. It introduces artists to people who may not have known that much about them before. I have a few of the Ken Burns cds, and find them an excellent way to discover an artists work over many years and record labels. It annoys me when I see people criticizing the work Ken Burns did on his documentary series and these albums. Of course nothing is perfect, but it did bring a whole new flock of fans to jazz, and that can only be a good thing.

This album by Mingus happens to be my favourite so far out of the KB's collection that I have. And I will most definately be buying more albums by Mingus in the near future. And it's all thanks to this cd. The 12 page booklet contains photos and an essay on Mingus. Highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sounds Good, April 19, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Charles Mingus (Audio CD)

I'm really enjoying this CD but only starting to get to know it. I just wanted to correct an error in a previous review--the sound quality of this CD is excellent. What sounds like distortion on a poor pair of speakers is revealed by good speakers to be the sound of spit rattling around in some of the wind instruments.