Charles Mingus Music

This review refers to the edition released on Rhino that features the two outstanding bonus tracks "Big Alice" & "The Call."
The album is a studio recording of three October dates in 1973 and it was released the following year. It's not the most talked about Mingus album, but the compositions are outstanding. The quality of performance is not far from any other album recorded with this line-up (Mingus, Richmond, Don Pullen, Ronald Hampton and George Adams.) The title track features Honey Gordon (who also sang on the bonus track "Strollin'" on "Mingus Dynasty") and the song's composer--Doug Hammond--both on vocals.
A variaty of styles is presented: There are two very different ballads: "Canon" and "Moves." There's also a chop-craving up-tempo waltz titled "Opus 4." "Opus 3" reminds me of Mingus' composing-style at the "Pithecantropus"-era. There's the bonus track "Big Alice" - a latin-influenced Don Pullen composition. The solos on the other bonus track "The Call" give you a feeling of something from the "Changes" session (which wasn't recorded long after these 1973 sessions.) Good sound-quality. The whole album has a clear mix.
I deeply recommend this album as much as e.g. "Blues & Roots," but I most point out that this is not the album to start with if you aren't familiar with Mingus' music.
Start with "Ah Um" or "Mingus Dynasty" - they're easier manuals to make you understand what the fuzz is about.

Trio sounds extemporaneous and Mingus excludes angst filled cachophany. Here the rich but easy going bass and the whimsical piano acknowledge each other and share a buoyant happening.

The music on TRIO is too slow for my liking. This is especially true of "Back Home Blues" and "I Can't Get Started". Even so, I appreciate the immense talent of Mr Charles Mingus which this CD displays. My favourite tunes are "Dizzy Moods" "Summertime" and "Hamps New Blues". The latter is an exceptional display of interplay between Mr Mingus and Mr Danny Richmond (d).

This album is worth buying if only for the very imaginative take on "Summertime". Danny Richmond (drums), as usual, smokes on this track and on this album.

Otherwise, this is a fairly average album. It is well recorded, and is a nice snapshot of Mingus playing in a trio setting. Unfortunately, with the exception of Summertime, it doesn't really show off Mingus's genius as an arranger, and his solo playing here is occasionally [gasp] lackluster.

Of course Mingus doesn't get much help here from Hampton Hawes' consistantly mediocre playing. Their interplay sounds very rudimentary compared to the things Bill Evans and Scott LeFaro were doing a couple of years later.

I don't want to seem harsh on this album. I do listen to it quite a bit, but it doesn't compare favorably to Mingus's greater work.

Mingus chose to work here with Hampton Hawes, a pianist who you'll notice never did rise to greatness. It's a moderately interesting date but not a great one and does not stand with Mingus' best.

Charles Mingus did only four trio appearances on record to my knowledge: this date; the unusual trio with Mingus, Tal Farlow, and leader, vibist Red Norvo; with a very early Paul Bley trio; and "Money Jungle" with Duke Ellington and Max Roach. All were all-star affairs. And this one has the incredibly bluesy pianistics of Hampton Hawes and Mingus' redoubtable long-time stablemate, Danny "HeartBreaker" Richmond.

This is a killer trio date, emphasizing the blues seen from all angles and at all tempos. I literally grew up with this date and have listened to it for many years. "Yesterdays" is a surprise and gives everyone a chance to give excellent solos. Richmond is in a very melodic mood on this date. The track "Dizzy Moods", which has a nice, surprising waltz on the bridge, is dedicated to John Birks Gillespie and receives solid performances. I love Hampton's gut bucket blues intro which surges into the main theme. The exchanges between Richmond and the other members alternating 'eights' is great, especially Hawes.

The best track on the date is an incredible, spare rendition of the old standby "Laura". This is a real Trio performance with Hawes, Mingus, and Dannie taking it slow and giving it a real introspective examination while swinging hard. The repetitive figure played by Mingus makes the arrangement really special, breaking into a beautiful 4/4. Hamps improvisations are wondrous, Mingus backing is especially strong, and Dannie keeps it going with a key accent that lifts the performance at a crucial point. And even the ending gets special treatment with a nice bass/drum effort under Hawes' figures. A great performance by all.

I am so happy this date has made the jump to CD. This is what you want at the last show on Saturday night at your favorite club. A strong bluesy pianist with an equally strong bassist and drummer, swinging away. Sit down, clear your mind, and enjoy a raw, very basic jazz trio. Hamp Hawes was a really special pianist. Five BIG Stars. (Audio CD, with jewel box)

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this album. Ellington's compositions are brilliant as always, and his playing is deliciously tasteful while managing at the same time to be intriguingly left of center. Max Roach's drumming is powerful and funky, proving once again that nobody swings harder.
The one that really disappointed me was Mingus, which is tragic because he is among my absolute favorite musicians. His tone is harsh and trebly, which isn't helped by the odd riffs and fills he plays that sound more like rasping sound effects than a harmonic foundation.
The whole recording just sounds slightly off. The rhythms never lock up. The improvisations go to interesting places, but they do so without the professionalism that should be expected of such top-notch performers.

So many times in the history of music, there have been summits where musical heavyweights are brought together on a promising project that ends up falling short of it's promise. Not the case here by a long shot!

Jazz fans do not need any introduction to the staggering acheivements of these three titans of Piano, Composition, Bass and Drums. All three bring their full talents to this project. Mingus and Roach do not merely support Ellington, they push him and battle him. Ellington responds in kind with playing with fire on the uptempo numbers (one can see where Monk was influenced by the Duke) and with beautiful subtleness on the ballads. The three play off each other as if the had been a combo for years.

All in all, this would have to be one of my 10 favorite jazz disks, and one that I will recommend without hesitation.

Let me start by saying I am not a big fan of Duke Ellington. I have loads of respect for the man, but I am not enthusiastic about big band jazz. I find a lot of his performances, big band and otherwise, to be very dry and uninspired. From the moment I put this record on it was obvious that this was something different. Like most projects involving Mingus, the bass is extremely dominant on this recording. The rhythms on this album are very unique, not only for Duke Ellington, but for the era.

This album is slightly deceiving in a way. It often has light, airy melodies, but are countered by heavy, intricate bass lines or spurts of heavy chords on the piano. Each track contains several different moods and ideas. The compositions are very complex and yet do not, on the surface, appear to be. Duke Ellington is a phenomenal player, and his ability really comes through on this recording. Combined with Charles Mingus and Max Roach, the trio is infallible. I can say with a fair amount of certainty that this is my favorite recording Ellington has ever done.

If people with ears took a blindfold test,would they give this 5 stars not knowing the players.Mingus is overplaying while
Max is stuck playing broken time.
Miles also thought this record at the time was a joke.

I won't go into depth on this amazing record--'cuz I ain't that deep! An amazing album, the one that really got me into jazz. I originally had it on vinyl, and the record has an unbelievable sense of drama and pace as it goes from song to song. This older, original CD release always annoyed me because the tracks are in the order they were recorded at the sessions, in order to preserve the "historical value". Well, that is really dumb. That is like putting out a version of a movie in the order they shot it day by day, rather than the final assembled version that hits the screen. On Money Jungle version 1, each song is great, but the old CD lost the power of the sequencing. I used to reprogram the order on my CD player to get it right--but what a pain! They should have released it in the proper, final sequence, then told you what order to program it in if (for some bizarre reason) you wanted to hear it in the "historical" sequencing. Isn't it just as "historical" to release it in the order that Messrs. Ellington et. al. thought it should go in? I've just never seen a packaging move that was so stupid--especially coming from a label like Blue Note, one of the great prestige labels.Fortunately, I just noticed there is a newer REMASTERED version that is in the proper order and with some xtra cuts. So it is off to one-click that baby and trade the old one in! Seriously folks, a truly amazing, far-out, gorgeous album by three serious cats. Get it, daddy-o!

One of the greatest composers in the jazz history got a most deserving and ariculate piece of attention by some of the greatest american and german jazz artists on this CD.

Mahogany's vocal are often used as if he were a member of the band, rather than a vocalist star (this is reminiscent, for instance, of some of the Ellington's classical recordings). But, although the WDR band (directed by Bill Dobbins) sounds excellent on tracks without Mahogany, it is his presence that brings something special, particularly when he scats like mad (on "Pussy Cat Dues").

My only serious complaint is that the tracks often end too soon after the applause, instead of more natural merging of the songs at an album. But, this is a really insignificant remark that fades in the presence of Mahogany, Jimmy Knepper, Charles McPherson and other musicians.

What? This CD has been out for a year and no one has reviewed it? That's amazing! And sad too. If you are a Mingus fan then you will enjoy KM's interpretations. If you are new to Mingus, then this is a nice accessible way (assuming you are comfortable with scat singing) to start exploring Mingus's work (you should also check out Ah Um).

KM's singing on this CD is incredible. He is not only technically brilliant, but he is also incredibly musical. He is the best scat singer that I have ever heard. Also, he really brings out the essense of each of Mingus's songs.

The band is dynamic and tight. And the interaction between KM and the band is inspired.

The are two reasons that I did not give this CD 5 stars. First, Mingus was a prolific composer and I feel that KM did not choose the best Mingus tunes (although Mingus Medley is great attempt at spanning the song book!). Second, it does not feature KM enough. When it comes to recent big band interpretations of Mingus none can top the Mingus Big Band (check out all their CD's!!!). So KM's vocals are what make this CD special and there are not enough vocals.