"Blues & Roots" by Charles Mingus on Atlantic 1305

December 20, 2023

Mingus is one of my favorite jazz musicians and composers. He was a master of blending old and new and always had the roots of the blues very much in focus in his music. Some of the very best jazz albums of all time for me is credited to him. My favorites are The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, Mingus Ah Um, Mingus Dynasty and this one on display, Blues & Roots.

His double bass mastery is evident as always on this session, and I hold him in very high regard in terms of thinking of my favorite double bassists. If I was to choose my top 5 bassists in jazz now, without thinking too much, they will probably be, in no particular order, Scott La Faro, Richard Davis, Charlie Haden, Henry Grimes and Mingus.

This album is another highlight of 2023 which I’ve been looking for for a long time. It’s definitely not easy to find an original issue in mono with the beautiful bulls eye labels. I really dig those labels and I have always loved the cover art as well. The session is top notch and features a stellar cast, with Jackie McLean, Booker Ervin, Pepper Adams, Mal Waldron, Dannie Richmond among others.

Happy to have checked this one off of the want list this year and I’m anticipating it will get plenty of time on the turntable.

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"Mingus Dynasty" by Charles Mingus on Columbia CL 1440

August 30, 2023

Fresh and just in is this masterpiece by Mingus. Got it today and just finished listening to it. I think I’ve mentioned the obvious on previous posts when talking about Mingus’ albums; he was a bona fide genius. The compositions are so beautiful, such attention to detail, the different layers of instruments playing over each other and blending together (amazing how it all works and comes together in total harmony), the multiple time signatures, the contrasts between different passages and the soulful, bluesy, explosive, moody and beautiful aspects of his ideas are mesmerizing. Like I said, it’s a genius at work here.

Favorite tunes at this moment are “Diane”, “Song with Orange”, “Gunslinging Bird”, “Far Wells, Mill Valley” and another take on Ellingtons “Mood Indigo”, which is also featured on Mingus x 5. The entire album is like a candy shop, so many flavors and sweet surprises. The level of musicianship that all the cats on this album possesses is absolutely top tier.

This is a Mingus album that you definitely should check out if you haven’t already. Highly recommended.

Top 3 Mingus albums guys?

Cheers!

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Charles Mingus presents Charles Mingus on Candid CJM 8005

February 1, 2022

Mingus with this small group is fantastic.

Starts with a great introduction by Mingus himself. And then we’re off. Love the “live” feeling of the sound and approach to this album. It’s very special jazz, as you’d expect from Mingus. Full of soul, fire and a dedication to preserving sounds of the past and making it sound fresh and progressive. I really enjoy this small group, consisting of Mingus on double bass, Eric Dolphy on alto sax and bass clarinet, Ted Curson on trumpet and Dannie Richmond on drums. It’s a nice change to the larger ensembles often employed by the bassist.

Highlight of the album is the tune “What Love” on which Dolphy’s bass clarinet and Mingus’ bass interacts with each other in a beautiful way.

I love Mingus and this is just another great album that I’m very happy to have in the collection. There are plenty of Mingus titles that I still miss, and of course I will try and hopefully secure some more when the opportunity arises.

Got some titles on Candid now, and I think it’s a very enjoyable label. You can find some real bargains as supposed to some of the other classic labels. Will keep my eye out for more titles.

I’m in the process of deciding on some titles that I’d like to acquire. We’ll see which ones I’ll go for. Exciting to get some new stuff into the collection for sure.

I hope you’re enjoying your collections and staying safe. Stay tuned… cheers!

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Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus by Charles Mingus on Impulse! A-54

September 4, 2021

I never get tired of Mingus music. It’s so rich and full of contrasts. I have managed to add a few of his masterpieces to the collection, but there are several albums missing for sure. The album on display is a great one. Recorded on two different dates in 1963 with two large ensembles, including such jazz luminaries as Dolphy, Byard, Ervin, Richmond and Mariano, to name but a few.

Perfect music for a lazy Saturday afternoon such as this. I’m actually all alone in the apartment right now, so I can indulge myself a bit and play a few records from the collection, write a post and just relax with some coffee. One of my favorite tunes from this album is Ellington/Bigard’s “Mood Indigo”. A fabulous, calm piece of music which soothes the soul and feels quite warm and pleasing. Great double bass by Mingus.

This album is a nice Mingus-experience. If you haven’t heard this but enjoy Mingus and his large ensemble stuff I can highly recommend this album. Most of the tunes recorded for this album had been previously recorded and appear on other Mingus albums, some with different titles.

Some questions: do you have a favorite Mingus recording, single song or entire album? Thoughts on the album on display? Are you a fan of these large ensemble recordings or do you prefer smaller groups, or both?

It’s starting to get colder here in Stockholm…autumn is on it’s way for sure. Feels like the summer went away far too fast. Well, looking forward to some cozy evenings with warm coffee and jazz… cheers!

PS. I’ve now joined the vinyl community on Instagram. The handle is “fwrarejazzvinylcollector”. :-)

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"Mingus" by Charles Mingus on Candid CJM 8021

October 5, 2020

Listening to Mingus is always a very rewarding experience.

Eric Dolphy with Mingus, it’s sublime. I can watch the live videos on YouTube from Mingus’ 1964 European Tour over and over again. It’s such a passionate, fiery and deeply interesting brand of jazz. This is my first Candid LP. The label has some great titles to be enjoyed. I have already secured another one just a few days ago. I’m still looking for two very special titles; one with Booker Little as a leader and one with Booker Ervin. I’m sure there are more great titles on Candid which I will of course investigate.

Very happy to have secured the album on display here. It features a couple of wonderful Mingus originals. The band consists of some great musicians, like Eric Dolphy, Ted Curson, Booker Ervin and Dannie Richmond to name a few. I truly love Mingus’ music. It’s so full of life, joy, anger, fire, romance, empathy, artistic expression, compositional excellence and so on. This album is no exception. A wonderful session worth seeking out. I’m aiming to collect a lot more of Mingus’ work. I have a couple more albums of his which I haven’t posted yet, stay tuned for those. I have posted “The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady” and “Mingus Ah Um” before, so check those two posts out if you haven’t already.

This year has been quite productive in getting more titles onto my shelves. I have been fortunate enough to been able to add some great titles in superb condition. I’ve largely stayed away from super high-end stuff on Blue Note for example, and instead focused on some cheaper originals (relatively, compared to the more expensive Blue Notes) like this Candid release and other stuff on New Jazz, Atlantic and Impulse. I have managed to add some heavy hitters as well. It’s been a nice mix of interesting albums from different labels. I’m expecting a couple of newcomers. One hopefully today or tomorrow and one later in the week. Both are superb albums, but one is so outstanding that I can’t wait for it to arrive, so I can put it on the turntable and be blown away. It’s a live session and it has become one of my absolute favorite albums. Stay tuned for that one coming up.

Some questions for my readers: What’s your take on this album? Does it make your Mingus top 10? Top 3 Candid releases? Please share your thoughts guys.

As I write this I just got a note that one of my incoming albums has arrived. I will go out and fetch it. This turned out to be a really good Monday. Stay safe and enjoy your records. Cheers!

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"Mingus Ah Um" by Charles Mingus on Columbia CL 1370

February 2, 2020

A very diverse album with depth and superb compositional skills.

I’ve grown very fond of Mingus during the past few years. A few of his titles have found their way into my collection as of late. I love his compositional skills as well as his bass playing. His bands are always top notch expressing a lot of quality and passion. His music is a bit different to say the least. Nothing sounds quite like it in my collection. So it’s always a great experience to put one of his albums on the turntable.

The copy on display is a beautiful white label promo which I acquired from eBay not so long ago. I’m very happy to have this album in my collection. It’s such a classic and rightly so. It contains a wonderful mix of tunes. From fiery gospel-like explosions, and driving blues pieces to contemplative ballads filled with melancholy and soulfulness. I love how all the different horns interact with each other and the different layers they are creating. It’s compositional skills at the highest level. It creates such dense textures with a lot of depth which really drags you into the music. Seems like a very complete expression of Mingus’ genius.

This album is a must-have for any jazz fan and music lover in general. Get it if you don’t have it. But I suspect most of you cats already have this one though.

What’s your thoughts on this album? Could this be the definitive Mingus album? I also love “The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady” but can’t make my mind up at this point which one I dig the most. I have one more great Mingus album which I will post later.

I’m planning to add a lot more Mingus albums to the collection. There’s so much left to discover. He’s such an interesting artist and I’m looking forward to further explore his output.

These last months have been very productive in terms of adding albums to the collection. Quite a few actually. I’ve never added so many in such a short space of time. Very rewarding. They are all wonderful and I have a bit more to enjoy now, but far from enough. So stay tuned for more great stuff coming up. Cheers!