Customer Reviews

Mingus Plays Piano

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I enjoyed this Mingus piano album for years in an LP fromat. I loved everything about it: the cover portrait of the artist, the selections, and the "wee-small hours" feel of it. Back when I imbibed a bit, it often served as the unknown barometer that told me I had indeed been "over served." This was the album that hit that 3 o'clock in the morning, "dark night of the soul" spot. And often I would awaken (or "come to")to find the album still spinning on the turntable or spy the record jacket, which had served as a coaster, dotted with circles. But Mingus and his "Memories of You" or "I Can't Get Started" standards, along with his own compositions like "Myself When I Am Real," did the trick. They kept me company when I wasn't fit for anybody else's. At one point--and I'm glad the producers put the dialogue on the album--Mingus says "It's not like playing at home, is it?" and yet one would hardly know that he wasn't, that a studio indeed provided the venue. The engineer asks, "What can we do for you?" Whatever Mingus may have asked, and whatever was done for him, it all served the greater purpose of providing a vintage moment with Mingus, not standing beside his bass, but bent over a piano playing chords that resonated with the late-nite, early-morning mood. I once played a couple cuts of this album for the great pianist George Shearing, and while Mr. Shearing said that these were not standard pianistic chords, he acknowledged finding the Mingus interpretation enjoyable and inventive. I recommend the album, the CD, to anyone of taste.

1963 was quite a year for Charles Mingus. He'd already recorded what may be his masterwork in "Black Saint and the Sinner Lady" when he returned to the studio to record in a rather unique manner-- as a solo pianist. The result is the stunning and often achingly beautiful "Mingus Plays Piano: Spontaneous Compositions and Improvisations".

Mingus, for someone known as a bassist, is quite a pianist-- his style is heavily indebted to Ellington, but there's also shades of Monk and Powell in his playing. More importantly, though, it's clear Mingus composed at the piano, as the voicings unique to his music are extraordinarily clear on this recording. And it's also clear that had he chosen this path, he'd've been a pianist of some repute.

The performances are largely pretty laid back, Mingus is in a pretty meditative and bluesy mood-- he tackles a few standards, some of his own compositions, and improvisations on brief themes within his music. The best of the material is delicate and lovely ("Myself When I Am Real"), energetic but not aggressive ("Body and Soul") or just stunning ("Orange Was the Color Of Her Dress, Then Silk Blues"). And while it lacks much of the bite, sarcasm, and aggressivenes of some of Mingus' better work, it is in its own way, a stunning album. Highly recommended.

I can only listen to this album maybe once a year. The melodies, the chords, the feelings it invokes are so beautiful, so haunting that when I listen to this I can't get the sounds out of my head for a couple of days. I usually have absolutely no clue what to put on the turntable (I have the vinyl reissue from 1982, which regrettably doesn't have all the songs on this CD) after I've listened to this, so I sit in the dark, unable to put on the light and examine the shelves.

Mingus was certainly one of the greatest jazz bassists ever, a notable composer and bandleader, but I think this album, his piano playing, really highlights his musical genius. Most instruments in jazz don't really lend themselves to solo performance. The dynamic range of the piano does, however, and here you can hear Mingus' compositional ideas in an intimate setting in their full complexity, and in their barest forms at the same time.

I would put this in the category of similar solo piano recordings by monk and ellington in that it paints a beautiful and different picture of a jazz master without his full entourage. Mingus on the piano sounds much like both Monk and Ellington in this recording with a childlike, but sophisticated presentation. I love this as much as any mingus recording and would highly recommend it.

I purchased this CD one week ago and already I've listened to it countless times. Although I'm not a pianist and can't comment on the technical aspects of Mingus' playing as others have, I'm impressed with his improvisational skills. It's amazing to me that he was able to create this music spontaneously and on piano, which was not his primary instrument. I saw a documentary on Mingus years ago which focused on his gruff and often angry nature, but as with all geniuses he was not one-dimensional. This album captures Mingus' sensitive side. The introspective nature of his playing on songs like "Old Portrait" (which the liner notes state he wrote about his divorce from his first wife) really caught my ear. The intimate and reflective tone of this music has made this CD an instant favorite of mine, and I can already tell that this is a disc I will be playing over and over for years. I think pianists may be more critical of the manner in which Mingus played and the unorthodox chord voicings he used on this recording, but I think that if the music is listened to and absorbed without that in mind it can be appreciated for what it is: a beautiful expression from a creative genius. If you love solo piano it doesn't get any better than this.

wow. this album is incredible. i hear the sheer imaginative brilliance of charles mingus pure and unfiltered on this album. his impeccable, albeit at times quirky, sense of time and use of silence is a joy. i've found this album to be an excellent, easy-on-the-ears introduction to mingus for many of my friends. an intense solo-piano album that shines in its intensity and vision, mingus plays piano is a must have for anyone interested in mingus, jazz, piano, or the orangy-playfulness of pure imagination.

Five HUGE Stars! The legendary Charles Mingus stretches his fingers over 88 piano keys for this recording session and dials up a great solo jazz piano recording that puts most others to shame. Spinning fantastic spontaneous solo piano compositions on the fly, just as he does with his world-famous, award-winning bass technique and with his amazing trios, small groups, and his large orchestras, the late Charles Mingus amazes, again and again. Mingus, alone with the tape running and his mind wide open to ideas that are instantly transmuted into music by his fingers. Indeed, Mingus says his breakthrough on bass violin came when he began to transfer his formidable piano technique to the bass fingerboard. And he became, arguably, the best bassist in jazz.

Charles Mingus was once the bassist for the legendary pianist Art Tatum, who actually taught Mingus advanced piano chords and technique. Small wonder Mingus displays such facility and two-handed technique. We've heard his amazing piano technique on the recording of "Smooch" (off the highly recommended Miles Davis CD "Blue Haze") and on his scorching big band masterwork "The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady": also highly recommended.

Many of these compositions are very familiar to the long-time fans of this amazing musician: "Myself, When I Am Real"," Portrait", "Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress...", "Meditation for Moses" (which morphed into the landmark Monterey Jazz Fest performance of "Meditations on Integration" with a thematic makeover), and more are all displayed in fuller form by his groundbreaking jazz bands, using different song titles. But these performances are fully satisfying in themselves. And his technique will amaze any jazz fan who hasn't heard his previous work, as well as any piano fans, with his dense chords and quick, quirky finger runs. "I Can't Get Started" and "Body and Soul" are personalized by Mingus into his own versions. The Pieces D'resistance are the 8 minute "Compositional Theme Story: Medleys, Anthems, and Folklore" which is a dazzling display of different themes and Mingusian pianism; and the spellibinding 7 minute piano solo of "Myself, When I Am Real", which became the amazing "Adagio Ma Non Troppo" on the CD "Let My Children Hear Music", where his piano solo here was scripted, note for note, into a big band performance that ranks among his best ever. So if you heard "Adagio...", now you know where it came from. Mesmerizing! If you like solo jazz piano, you'll love "Mingus Plays Piano". Enjoy!! My Highest Recommendation! Originally I gave this Four Stars? What was I thinking? This is one of the best solo jazz piano recordings you will ever hear and certainly a cut well above most jazz piano fare. Five HUGE Stars!

Aside from the opening "Myself When I Am Real" - the title of which could easily have been the title of this album - the solo piano performances on this disc are sometimes halting, and not always played with the best articulation. But they provide a fascinating insight into the compositional mind of Charles Mingus at peace. The blues/gospel "shouts" that characterize much of Mingus' music occasionally jump out here; but what we mainly hear is the lyrical, often ornate, ponderings of the man, using techniques, changes, and voicings learned from Art Tatum and inspired by everything from ephemeral characters and happenings to the reed-master Roland Kirk. Mingus' originals truly stand out, as they evoke some of his ensemble works in skeletal, but complete, form. The remastering is very warm and revealing, and all-in-all this is one of the most intriguing albums in Mingus' vaulted discography.

this album is hauntingly beautiful. it shows mingus' talent at composing and improvising. it should be a must have for any mingus fans or fans of jazz improvisation.

Charles Mingus is known as a great bass player, but he also loved to play and compose on the piano. This beautiful suite of songs "Spontaneous Compositions and Improvisations" is simply sublime. When you hear Mingus at the piano you can't compare what he does to others like Bill Evans or Keith Jarrett for whom piano is their first instrument. Mingus is able to take you on a lovely, unique journey using sometimes odd chording, phrasing and harmonics. Mingus Plays Piano Spontaneous Compositions and Improvisions is an amazing achievement. It is an album to be savoured.