You ever get into a mood where all you can listen to is one artist? I’ve been sitting here for the last few days working away on getting the word out on this killer Brass Ecstasy record all while listening to Mingus records on repeat. Mingus (x5), Mingus in Wonderland, Black Saint…, Pithecanthropus Erectus, Oh Yeah, Shoes of the Fisherman’s Wife, etc etc etc. My girlfriend is getting worried she might never hear anything else, I think. But something about how dirty these recordings sound really makes my ears smile every time I hear them.
As if you need to be told how incredible his writing and playing is. But check out this vid via Google Video of the Charles Mingus Sextet, Live_In_Oslo_(1964).
Unreal.
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i am a gigantic mingus fan.
live at antibes…epic, man.
Absolutely. A must have.
I’m trying to find a copy of “Epitaph” on vinyl, but I can’t seem to find anyone who has issued it.
Mingus. Ah Um.
Speaking of Mingus, I went through a period where all I could listen to was Johnny Coles. As a leader, as a sideman, anything I could get my hands on. Man that little guy could play!!!
Ah Um and Dynasty are not only amazing because of the songs and the playing, but because of the sound and feel of those recordings. is there a mingus album that [i]feels[/i] better than Ah Um????
gahhh i am gonna go put on some mingus right now.
Thanks, Jason and Dave!
In re Johnny Coles – very true. He made some classic statements on Gil Evans recordings, among others.
Dave – I think some credit for the sound on Ah Um should go to producer Teo Macero, as well as to the Columbia engineers of that period. But that said, there’s no denying that that band captures some of the most cohesive versions of Mingus’ compositions. An almost uncanny empathy.
d
Jim,
Epitaph is the title of the posthumous Mingus recording conducted by Gunther Schuller. It wasn’t recorded until 1989…fyi
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3xfexqwgldte
Cumbia and Jazz Fusion, baby…neoepic
The Clown!