Mingus Ah Um

Mingus Ah Um

Album: Mingus Ah Um

·*****· 100 mejores discos de jazz

Intérprete(s): Charles Mingus

1. Better Get Hit in Yo' Soul 7:21
2. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat 5:42
3. Boogie Stop Shuffle 4:59
4. Self-Portrait in Three Colors 3:08
5. Open Letter to Duke 5:49
6. Bird Calls 6:18
7. Fables of Faubus 8:13
8. Pussy Cat Dues 9:13
9. Jelly Roll 6:15
10. Pedal Point Blues 6:28 Bonus Track
11. GG Train 4:37 Bonus Track
12. Girl of My Dreams 4:08 Bonus Track

Mingus Ah Um ***** 100 mejores discos de jazz **** ALBUM DETAILS: Grabado: May 5, 1959,May 12, 1959 Release Date: Feb 16 1999 Label: SONY Catalog No.: 65512 UPC: 74646551226

ALBUM CREDITS

Amazone

Mercurial bassist and bandleader Charles Mingus was signed to Columbia Records for the briefest of time during 1959. His Columbia recordings, however, remain some of the most inspired, mood-jumping jazz in history. The flowing sadness of "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" (unedited here for the first time on CD!) rings like a funeral chorus that pitches headlong into a celebration of Lester Young's life and improvising flexibility, rather than his death. And there's the funky furnace blast of "Boogie Stop Shuffle" (also unedited!), which reaches its glory with Booker Ervin's Texas tenor sax, wrapped tight in bluesy tone. With the index of emotions captured, these songs nail why Mingus is possibly the most relevant jazzer for the '90s generation. He swings and shouts and hollers and somersaults. His tunes either induce foot-stomping with their intensity or reach for poignant yearning with their lyrical tapestry of orchestral colors. --Andrew Bartlett

REVIEWS All Music Guide

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 acccessibility 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 Hit in Yo' 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' three most revered influences: "Open Letter to Duke" is a suite of three tunes; "Bird Calls" is inspired by Charlie Parker; 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. [The 1999 remastered reissue includes four of the original tracks in an unedited form never heard before on CD, and adds three bonus tracks not on the original LP.] Steve Huey