Weird Nightmare - Meditations on Mingus

Various Artists - Jazz - Bebop/Post-Bop/Avant-Garde | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 29, 1992)
• Original Release Date: September 29, 1992
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000028OW
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,721 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Canon, Pt. 1

2. Meditations on Integration

3. Canon, Pt. 2

4. Jump Monk

5. Weird Nightmare

6. Work Song

7. Self-Portrait in Three Colors

8. Purple Heart

9. Tonight at Noon

10. Gunslinging Bird [If Charlie Parker Were a Gunslinger, There'd Be a]

11. Weird Nightmare Interlude

12. Reincarnation of a Lovebird/Haitian Fight Song Montage

13. Open Letter to Duke

14. The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jive Ass Slippers

15. Oh Lord, Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me

16. Eclipse

17. Pithecanthropus Erectus

18. Freedom

19. Weird Nightmare (Reprise)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Willner's best so far, April 17, 2002

By 

J. W. Reitsma (Haarlem, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Weird Nightmare - Meditations on Mingus (Audio CD)

Producer Hal Willner has raised the format of the tribute album to an art form. Weird Nightmare is the fifth (and last?) in his series of albums on which a disparate cast of jazz, rock and other musicians cover material by one and the same composer. The covered composers are Nino Rota (Amacord Nino Rota, 1982), Thelonious Monk (That's the Way I Feel Now, 1984), Kurt Weill (Lost in the Stars, 1985; September Songs from 1997 covers much the same ground with less success), Walt Disney - or rather his songwriters - (Stay Awake, 1988) and Charles Mingus (Weird Nightmare, 1992). The Mingus tribute features a number of instruments with unusual pitch and sound constructed by avant-garde DIY composer Harry Partch that provide a very eerie vibe to this record, readings from unpublished sections of Mingus' autobiography Beneath the Underdog by hip celebrities (i.a. Henry Rollins ruminating on the word 'groovy'), songs played by a 'house band' composed of 'downtown' jazz musicians such as Don Byron, Bill Frisell, Bobby Previte and Greg Cohen and guest performers and arrangers that include Henry Threadgill, Elvis Costello, Keith Richards and Chuck D. Richards sings and plays a hilarious version of the blues 'Oh Lord, Don't Let them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me' and Chuck D. delivers an explosive two-minute rap based on a passage from Mingus' autobio that is underpinned by weird but rhythmic sounds from the Harry Partch instruments and a solid Bill Frisell guitar workout (too rarely heard, these days).
The disparate elements that went into the making of this album are ingenously combined by Willner into a multifaceted CD that is a truthful reflection of Charles Mingus' complex and self-contradictory personality and music. On top of that this record is also quite entertaining, highly musical and even moving in places. Not for the faint of heart or musical purists.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe a few MORE "Weird Nightmares" are called for, June 27, 2002

By 

Brent (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Weird Nightmare - Meditations on Mingus (Audio CD)

OK, first of all, I've been a bassist for about 35 years now, and to acknowledge Mingus as the absolute apothesis of bass players is (say it with me, now: DUH!) a moot point. And now, here's some of his stuff produced by Hal Willner, a gentleman I'd GREATLY enjoy sharing an..."illegal substance" with. And if THAT ain't enough, Willner's able to incorporate some of the noted eccentric American composer, Harry Partch's own homemade instuments on all of the material presented. And the list of guest artists is absolutely astounding. Dig: some of New York's finest "advant-garde" (sp?) musicians like Bill Frisell, Gary Lucas, and bassist extraordinare, Greg Cohen musicians provide most of the music. The "cameos" are a real hoot, too: the Band's Robbie Roberson recites "Playing Chess With Bobby Fischer;" Elvis Costello sings the title track; and there's this GREAT "jug band" version of Mingus' "Open Letter To Duke," featuring the likes of Tony Trischka, Howard Levy, and Bobby Previte; but, for my money, the best two tracks are Chuck D's rap version of "Gunslinging Bird," and Keith Richards'/Charlie Watts/Bobby Keyes jam with the Uptown Horns on "Oh Lord, Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me." If you're a jazz purist, I can guarantee that you'll miss the joke completely and be mightily offended by these "pop" musicians attempting Mingus' material. But to the rest of us, "Weird Nightmare" is a GREAT (albeit slightly...twisted) introduction to the phenomenal entity that is Charles Mingus.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A homage to a great musician but ORIGINAL, June 26, 2003

By 

Ian Muldoon (Coffs Harbour, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Weird Nightmare - Meditations on Mingus (Audio CD)

The music, recitations, arrangements, playing on this CD are the closest one can get to recreating the INTENT of an original artist without copying or seeming a pale imitation of that original. I think great artists who have created a whole new SOUND are notoriously difficult when it comes to playing their music. This is a notable exception. The SOUL of Mingus is here, but the sound is a completely new realisation of his work. A tremendous effort by all concerned. Brilliant.