Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus

Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus is a 1964 album by American jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus.

Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus
Studio album by
Charles Mingus
ReleasedJanuary 1964[1]
RecordedJanuary 20 & September 20, 1963
New York City
GenreJazz
Length40:30
LabelImpulse!
A-54
ProducerBob Thiele
Charles Mingus chronology
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
(1963)		 Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus
(1964)		 Mingus Plays Piano
(1963)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[3]

Background

Mingus collaborated with arranger/orchestrator Bob Hammer to score the music for a large ensemble of brass and saxophones.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Charles Mingus, except where noted.

  1. "II B.S." – 4:48
  2. "I X Love" – 7:41
  3. "Celia" – 6:14
  4. "Mood Indigo" (Duke Ellington/Barney Bigard) – 4:45
  5. "Better Get Hit in Yo' Soul" – 6:30
  6. "Theme for Lester Young" – 5:51
  7. "Hora Decubitus" – 4:41
  8. "Freedom" – 5:10 Bonus track on CD reissue

Some editions of this album, such as Impulse Records AS-54-B, exclude the track "Freedom."

Historical context

Most of the compositions on this album had been previously recorded or have since been rerecorded, some under different titles, on other albums.

Personnel

Tracks #1 and 4–8, recorded on September 20, 1963:

Tracks #2 and 3, recorded on January 20, 1963:

Production
  • Bob Thiele – Producer
  • Michael Cuscuna – Reissue Producer
  • Bob Simpson – Engineer
  • Erick Labson – Remastering

Freedom

Freedom, by Charles Mingus (excerpt)

This mule ain't from Moscow,
this mule ain't from the South.
But this mule's had some learning,
mostly mouth-to-mouth.

The lyrics, "This mule ain't from Moscow", might be a reference to a Moscow mule, a drink made of vodka and ginger beer popular in the 1950s, but is likely also referring to African-American slaves as the "mule".

Mingus performed a number of other songs with spoken poetry or narration:

  • "Scenes in the City"
  • "The Chill of Death"
  • "The Clown"
  • "Weary Blues" (read by Langston Hughes)
  • "Don't Let It Happen Here"
  • "It Was A Lonely Day In Selma, Alabama"
  • "Where Does A Man Go To Find Peace?"

Several of his other pieces have lyrics:

  • "Fables of Faubus"
  • "Oh Lord, Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me"
  • "Devil Woman"
gollark: Grades let you distance, well, grades, from actual % results on stuff.
gollark: Of course, *that* means that how good you're considered depends on how well everyone else does. Although that probably would have been the case to some extent anyway.
gollark: I mean, "you got X % of the questions right" might not line up exactly with what your grade should be, and the difficulty of exams might vary from exam to exam.
gollark: Are percentages REALLY better, though?
gollark: They actually recently implemented number grades for GCSE.

References
  1. "New Album Releases". The Billboard Publishing Co. 1 February 1964.
  2. Allmusic review
  3. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 140. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  4. Santoro, Gene (2000). Myself when I Am Real. New York: Oxford University Press US. p. 413. ISBN 0-19-514711-1.
  5. Mathieson, Kenny (1999). Giant Steps. Canongate US. p. 217. ISBN 0-86241-859-3.
  6. Conversely, Nat Hentoff identifies "Nouroog" as the precursor to "I X Love". Hentoff, Nat (1963). Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (CD booklet). Charles Mingus. Impulse! Records. pp. 2–10. IMPD-170.
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