Customer Reviews

Thirteen Pictures: The Charles Mingus Anthology

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For anyone thinking about "getting into" Mingus, this is a great first step to take. As usual, Rhino does it right and gives us the impressive that was Mingus' work. Going from "Cumbia and Jazz Fusion" to "Myself When I Am Real" is a masterstroke. Also, this set shows you the brilliance of such sidemen as Danny Richmond, Jaki Byard and Jackie McLean, people who were up to the challenge of taking Mingus' work to unknown places. I still can recall first hearing "Pithocampus Erectus" on the local jazz station and asking myself, "What was that?!" Since then, life has never been the same. When it comes to Mingus, why be normal?

To my ears, the most transcendent moment in the history of recorded music (please excuse the hyperbole) occurs about twenty seconds into "Jump Monk", the third song on disc one of this collection. After a nimble bassline intro by Mingus himself, tenor saxman George Barrow unleashes six soulful, lilting notes that never fail to conjure up images of what it must be like to stare into the face of god.

Now, one 3 second phrase does not an album make. I know this. This is one of my favourite jazz collections because the rest of it manages to live up to that one magnificent moment. Its consistency is what amazes me. Mingus manages to write music the way Tom Robbins writes books: with a focus on the narrative whole, while adding enough raw nuggets of buoyancy to make the whole thing go down easy.

Highlights for me include "Cumbia & Jazz Fusion" (like listening to the history of man), "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" (melancholic without being melodramatic -- an impossible feat in my books), and "Better Git it in Your Soul" (spunky energy). And of course, "Myself When I Am Real", a haunting seven-and-a-half minute piano improv.

Sometimes jazz baffles me for its insistence on staying within the basic and cliched forms. Mingus never falls into that deep hole.

...could be used to describe either Mingus or this collection: producers Joel Dorn and Hal Willner have chosen to lead off with "Cumbia/Jazz Fusion" a sprawling 27 minute piece that (unjustly) received little attention and virtually no airplay when it was released in 1979. This is followed by a solo piano piece "Myself When I am Real." The listener is well over forty minutes into this collection before encountering well-known "hits" like "Haitian Fight Song" or "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat."

The subtext of the collection seems to be to establish that Mingus was a jazz composer comparable to a giant like Ellington. And it is true, the sweep of this music from solo piano to big band, from chorus-bridge-chorus songs to multi-sectional suites is impressive. In this regard, this anthology succeeds as an introduction to Mingus' music. However, the inclusion of some of this material is done at the cost of omitting many of Mingus' better known (and more typical) works. If one just wants to hear Mingus and his band at their peak, get the late 1950s classics like "Ah um."

The CD includes good liner notes. All musicians and recording details documented.

being a long time mingus fan i'd like to chuck my two cents in here. there are many mingus "best of's" out there but they are usually very poorly compiled. This is the only one you should bother with to get a good start on what will be your latest, greatest, and possibly final music obsession. covering everything from the early debut singles up through his final recordings. mingus fans get almost violent over what his greatest period was. i myself lean towards the unpopular vote and dig the early beatnik mingus (the complete debut recordings box is the greatest musical treasure ever, of all time, daddy-o)in fact i stopped buying music after i nabbed the 12 disc debut box. I could'nt follow it up with anything. The early mingus is very experimental in a 50's kind of way, beat heavy jazz that would make a great soundtrack to any DALI painting. I think the early mingus is what lands him in "high times" magazine so often (heh heh). mingus shifted gears on his bethlehem and columbia recordings, very mainstream but absolutely perfect jazz. so groovy and soul stirring that you will chuck your over-rated miles davis reissues out in the street. The atlantic years (that this comp is heavy on) is easily his most popular era. his relationship with roland kirk was made in heaven. most likely the atlantic stuff will hook you first. the highlights are all here (no "eat that chicken" tho). in short if you dig the genius of cool-daddies like MONK, SUN-RA, ORNETTE, COLTRANE etc... dig in you will never be the same. (oh and save your pennies for the debut box while it's still in print!)

This 2CD set is a great introduction to Mingus. There are 13 tracks including Mingus's signature tunes: 'Better Git it in your Soul' & 'Goodbye Pork Pie Hat'. As with Rhino's other Atlantic Jazz re-issues the set also includes a nice, informative booklet. Serious Jazz Fans will find the this set lacking and too incomplete- they should look at the 5CD box set "Passions of a Man" or the 3CD Complete 1959 recordings . This anthology would make a great buy for a Jazz fan who does not own any of Mingus' albums. Overall , highly recommended and good value for money but those who can afford it may want to look at one of the more comprehensive Mingus sets available.

If a brand new Jazz lover has absolutely no Charles Mingus in his/her collection, I highly recommend this anthology. It contains good examples of certain periods of Mingus's genius and development. Unfortunately (for me) it's horribly out of chronogical sequence! It feels like somebody in the Rhino Board Room snatched the string from the pearls and let the pearls bounce all over! There must have been a reason for that. Please don't let my complaint deter you from buying this 2-CD set. The enclosed booklet is quire informative.

I will not bore the reader with well worn comments. I will say that this is a brilliant anthology and without question some of Mingus finest compositions. The reading here of "Cumbia & Jazz Fusion" is simply stunning. It makes you want to crawl up the wall with delight. For me this was the first time that I had heard "Portrait", "Hora Decubitus" and "Meditations On Intergration (Parts 1 & 2)" and they work nicely within the framework of the collection, and are gems in themself. As always with Mingus, there's not a score in the collection that is not at the apex of music composition and artistic creative invention. This collection gives one a very broad look at his musical and compositional genius while with Atlantic, which in my own opinion is within the structure of his finest work. The booklet is also very detailed and informative and fills in a lot of missing loops in the huge, ever expanding Charles Mingus catalog. Do yourself a great favor if you are a fan of great jazz, compositional excellence and true American art in it's finest arena, grab this one, crank it up, fasten your seatbelt and sit back and enjoy the journey and adventure. You will surely be thrilled and want to hear more of the Mingus treasure chest of jewels. A wonderful box set. Grab it today, don't wait.