Your Three Favorite Mingus Recordings

[B. Goren.]

I have a special and unexplained weakness to his Candid recordings. Also East Coasting is a favorite.

[Shrdlu]

Never heard a bad Mingus record.

I guess my favorite three (if I have to pick) would be Arum, Dynasty and that Columbia twofer, live in NYC in 1971.

There is also a Columbia studio album from about 1971 that's real good. I forget the name now, but it has some narration on it.

[sidewinder]

I have a very soft spot for 'Mingus Moves' on Atlantic - although it rarely gets the plaudits.

The first Mingus LP (actualy a 2LP set) that I first heard is probably still my favourite - 'Charles Mingus - The Atlantic Years' from the mid-70s.

There's so many brilliant Mingus albums to choose from, it's hard to single out the best.

Also a shame that CBS haven't issued that session recorded live in the UK at Ronnie Scotts !

Edited March 12, 2010 by sidewinder

[jeffcrom]

I have a very soft spot for 'Mingus Moves' on Atlantic - although it rarely gets the plaudits.

I almost put that one in my top three. I didn't because:

1) I thought I might be influenced by nostalgia - I bought the LP many years ago when I had just discovered George Adams and Don Pullen and didn't have many Mingus records.

2) Mingus himself turns in a kind of listless performance, bass-wise.

But it's a great group - Adams, Pullen, Dannie Richmond, and the little-known Ronald Hampton on trumpet. Pullen and Adams are outstanding, and both contribute tunes. The Rhino/Atlantic CD issue has a couple of bonus tracks, including an early version of Pullen's "Big Alice." I think I'll listen to Mingus Moves today.

Edit: I forgot to say the obvious - the main thing that makes this album appealing is the presence of several excellent, little-known Mingus compositions, like "Canon" and the unimaginatively titles "Opus 3" and "Opus 4."

Edited March 12, 2010 by jeffcrom

[Joe]

Dunno why, maybe I shouldn't be, but kind of (pleasantly) surprised to see so MUCH love here for EAST COASTING.

[jostber]

My favorites are:

Pithecanthropus Erectus

The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady

Mingus Oh, Yeah!

Mighty music all over.

[MartyJazz]

Tough to choose just three especially that I'm neglecting his excellent work with Dolphy, but I venture that I listen to these the most:

TIAJUANA MOODS

BLUES AND ROOTS

TONIGHT AT NOON

[Joe Bip]

I probably couldnt name three favorites, and if I did they'd probably not be surprising: Black Saint, Ah Um, and I'd have to think about the third one.

I'd be happy to name what I think is one of the most underrated Mingus records, though: Right Now. Such lively, inspired performances of "Fables" and "Meditation for a Pair of Wire Cutters." Apart from a few typically raving Amazon reviews, I've never gotten the feeling that this record is really appreciated, and I can't really figure out why.

I also think Epitaph is an important Mingus record, which probably doesn't get its due because Mingus doesn't perform on it and it was recorded after his death. If one takes him seriously as a composer, those shouldn't be deterrents. It's an important album.

Edited March 14, 2010 by Joe Bip

[P.L.M]

Charles Mingus Present Charles Mingus

Ah Um

At Antibes

My choice to, and in the same order.

[JSngry]

I'd be happy to name what I think is one of the most underrated Mingus records, though: Right Now....I've never gotten the feeling that this record is really appreciated, and I can't really figure out why.

My guess - released in 1964 on Fantasy, when it was still was still a small label w/o full-speed distribution + Mingus having reached the peak of his "public profile" a few years earlier + "remakes" of material that had been previously acclaimed in other incarnations = an album not already present in "the canon" by the time the new wave of reissue-mania-fueled jazz fan came around. That, & I think that people look at the front line and the date, hope it's Jacki Byard, see that it's not, and think "oh....". Their mistake, right?

Actually, Mingus At Monterrey is somewhat underrated/overlooked as well, which is kinda odd, because once Fantasy got more fully funded, I didn't have that hard a time finding Right Now, but didn't find the former for many, many years, and then used, even on a Fantasy copy.

[Joe Bip]

... I think that people look at the front line and the date, hope it's Jacki Byard, see that it's not, and think "oh....". Their mistake, right?

Yes, and Dolphy's absence surely counts even more heavily against it to many who would otherwise buy it. Fortunately it has sold well enough to keep it from getting deleted, so far, as many other OJCs have been.

[Shrdlu]

The fourth of my three favotites is the 1955 Bohemia session. Simple instrumentation, but extremely tasty. And now with alternate takes, thanks to the Debut records box set.

(Jim, you need the msn emoticons. I want the one with the guy with his tongue sticking out.)