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Title: Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um (1959) [MFSL 2019]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Mingus Ah Um is a studio album by American jazz musician Charles Mingus, originally released in 1959 by Columbia Records. It was his first album recorded for Columbia. The Penguin Guide to Jazz calls this album “an extended tribute to ancestors” (and awards it one of their rare crowns), and Mingus’s musical forebears figure largely throughout.

Charles Mingus’ debut for Columbia, Mingus Ah Um is a stunning summation of the bassist’s talents and probably the best reference point for beginners. While there’s also a strong case for The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady as his best work overall, it lacks Ah Um’s immediate accessibility and brilliantly sculpted individual tunes. Mingus’ compositions and arrangements were always extremely focused, assimilating individual spontaneity into a firm consistency of mood, and that approach reaches an ultra-tight zenith on Mingus Ah Um. The band includes longtime Mingus stalwarts already well versed in his music, like saxophonists John Handy, Shafi Hadi, and Booker Ervin; trombonists Jimmy Knepper and Willie Dennis; pianist Horace Parlan; and drummer Dannie Richmond. Their razor-sharp performances tie together what may well be Mingus’ greatest, most emotionally varied set of compositions. At least three became instant classics, starting with the irrepressible spiritual exuberance of signature tune “Better Get It in Your Soul,” taken in a hard-charging 6/8 and punctuated by joyous gospel shouts. “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” is a slow, graceful elegy for Lester Young, who died not long before the sessions. The sharply contrasting “Fables of Faubus” is a savage mockery of segregationist Arkansas governor Orval Faubus, portrayed musically as a bumbling vaudeville clown (the scathing lyrics, censored by skittish executives, can be heard on Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus). The underrated “Boogie Stop Shuffle” is bursting with aggressive swing, and elsewhere there are tributes to Mingus’ most revered influences: “Open Letter to Duke” is inspired by Duke Ellington and “Jelly Roll” is an idiosyncratic yet affectionate nod to jazz’s first great composer, Jelly Roll Morton. It simply isn’t possible to single out one Mingus album as definitive, but Mingus Ah Um comes the closest.

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Title: Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um (1959/1999)
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64

Charles Mingus’ 1959 Columbia sessions were both a summation of his diverse work up to that point and a bold step forward, for it was the year when at last he had the opportunity to sign with a major label and work with an old friend and musical collaborator, Teo Macero at Columbia Records. There was no stopping this incredible musical mind who’d found his voice as a bassist, composer and bandleader. The bands that Mingus assembled at Columbia’s 30th Street studio in May and November of ‘59 consisted of the greatest exponents of his music to date, featuring sidemen Jimmy Knepper, John Handy, Booker Ervin, Horace Parlan and Dannie Richmond. These 1959 sessions, which resulted in Mingus Ah Um and Mingus Dynasty, introduced several classics that would become evergreens in the bassist’s repertoire and jazz standards including: “Better Git It In Your Soul,” “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” and “Fables Of Faubus” plus homages to jazz greats Ellington (“Open Letter To Duke”), with whom Mingus is most frequently compared for the vastness, depth and diversity of his recordings, and Morton (“Jelly Roll”), jazz’s first great composer.

Charles Mingus’ debut for Columbia, Mingus Ah Um is a stunning summation of the bassist’s talents and probably the best reference point for beginners. While there’s also a strong case for The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady as his best work overall, it lacks Ah Um’s immediate accessibility and brilliantly sculpted individual tunes. Mingus’ compositions and arrangements were always extremely focused, assimilating individual spontaneity into a firm consistency of mood, and that approach reaches an ultra-tight zenith on Mingus Ah Um. The band includes longtime Mingus stalwarts already well versed in his music, like saxophonists John Handy, Shafi Hadi, and Booker Ervin; trombonists Jimmy Knepper and Willie Dennis; pianist Horace Parlan; and drummer Dannie Richmond. Their razor-sharp performances tie together what may well be Mingus’ greatest, most emotionally varied set of compositions. At least three became instant classics, starting with the irrepressible spiritual exuberance of signature tune “Better Get It in Your Soul,” taken in a hard-charging 6/8 and punctuated by joyous gospel shouts. “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” is a slow, graceful elegy for Lester Young, who died not long before the sessions. The sharply contrasting “Fables of Faubus” is a savage mockery of segregationist Arkansas governor Orval Faubus, portrayed musically as a bumbling vaudeville clown (the scathing lyrics, censored by skittish executives, can be heard on Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus). The underrated “Boogie Stop Shuffle” is bursting with aggressive swing, and elsewhere there are tributes to Mingus’ most revered influences: “Open Letter to Duke” is inspired by Duke Ellington and “Jelly Roll” is an idiosyncratic yet affectionate nod to jazz’s first great composer, Jelly Roll Morton. It simply isn’t possible to single out one Mingus album as definitive, but Mingus Ah Um comes the closest. ~~ AllMusic Review by Steve Huey

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Title: Charles Mingus – Blues & Roots [Analogue Productions 2023] (1960/2023)
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO

Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series) Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Atlantic Records! Hybrid Stereo SACD Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original analog tape direct to DSD! Mingus taps blues and roots sources for a joyous swinging outing! “How to follow 1959’s incredible Mingus Ah Um, with its nods to Mingus’ background and influences? Part of the on-going Atlantic Records 75 Anniversary series, this wonderful title from 1960 might be regarded as a sequel as it deftly addresses the declaration of its title — both blues and roots — even though it was actually recorded before Ah Um. But the blues element dominates slightly, so those who lean more toward blues than jazz will revel in the genre blending of ‘Cryin’ Blues’ and especially Mingus’ ode to Jelly Roll Morton, ‘My Jelly Roll Soul.’ Superbly mastered by Kevin Gray, this is as revealing of a system’s bass reproduction as one might desire.” — Sound Quality = 90% — Ken Kessler, HiFi News, October 2024 AllMusic marks Charles Mingus’ Blues & Roots as a rejoinder to the critical carping that the virtuoso bass player and accomplished jazz pianist and bandleader and his evocative music “somehow didn’t swing enough.” For this album Mingus turned to the earthiest and earliest sources of black musical expression — blues, gospel, and old-time New Orleans jazz. The resulting album ranks arguably as Mingus’ most joyously swinging outing. Recorded in 1959 and released in 1960, Blues & Roots’ birth was explained by Mingus in the album’s liner notes: “This record is unusual-it presents only one part of my musical world, the blues. A year ago, Nesuhi Ertegün suggested that I record an entire blues album in the style of ‘Haitian Fight Song’ (in Atlantic LP 1260), because some people, particularly critics, were saying I didn’t swing enough. He wanted to give them a barrage of soul music: churchy, blues, swinging, earthy. I thought it over. I was born swinging and clapped my hands in church as a little boy, but I’ve grown up and I like to do things other than just swing. But blues can do more than just swing. So I agreed.” Anyone who had heard “Haitian Fight Song” shouldn’t have been surprised that such an album was well within Mingus’ range. Mingus boosts the complexity of the music by assembling a nine-piece outfit and arranging multiple lines to be played simultaneously — somewhat akin to the Dixieland ensembles of old, but with an acutely modern flavor. That modern flavor is reinforced and enhanced by the lush Analogue Productions reissue treatment that gives this new version more depth, richer sonic execution and acute audio clarity, particularly in the higher frequencies. Expert mastering from the original master tape by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio direct to DSD makes this Hybrid Stereo SACD sound incredible. There’s no question of Mingus’ firm grounding in the basics on Blues & Roots, writes AllMusic, nor of his deeply felt affinity with them. Whether the music is explicitly gospel-based — like the groundbreaking classic “Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting” — or not, the whole album is performed with a churchy fervor that rips through both the exuberant swingers and the aching, mournful slow blues. Still, it’s the blues that most prominently inform the feeling of the album, aside from the aforementioned “Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting” and the Jelly Roll Morton tribute “My Jelly Roll Soul.”

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Title: Charles Mingus – Oh Yeah [Analogue Productions 2024] (1962/2024) SACD ISO
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO

Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series) Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Atlantic Records! A powerful, passionate and expressive album! Hybrid Stereo SACD Mastered direct to DSD by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original master tape After several sessions with Columbia and Candid, Charles Mingus briefly returned to Atlantic and cut the freewheeling Oh Yeah, which AllMusic says has to rank as the wildest of all his classic albums. Mingus displays all of his vigorous jazz feeling on this album; he plays no bass whatsoever, hiring Doug Watkins to fill in while he accompanies the group on piano and contributes bluesy vocals to several tracks (while shouting encouragement on nearly all of them). One of the really fine things about Mingus is that he always seems to keep an earthy touch no matter how wild the harmonies get, and that genius comes across with power here. Some of the colorful titles are “Devil Woman,” “Eat That Chicken,” and “Hog Callin’ Blues.” Mingus’ vocal selections radiate the same dementia, whether it’s the stream-of-consciousness blues couplets on “Devil Woman,” the dark-humored modern-day spiritual “Oh Lord Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me,” or the dadaist stride piano bounce of “Eat That Chicken,” a nod to Fats Waller’s comic novelties.

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