Mingus Ah Um (50th Anniversary Legacy Edition) [Digipak]

Performer: Charles Mingus
Artist: Horace Parlan; Booker Ervin; Dannie Richmond
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: This remastered edition of MINGUS AH UM features six of the original tracks in unedited form and three bonus tracks. Personnel: Charles Mingus (piano, bass); John Handy (alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet); Shafi Hadi (alto & tenor saxophones); Booker Ervin (tenor saxophone); Jimmy Knepper, Willie Dennis (trombone); Horace Parlan (piano); Dannie Richmond (drums). Producer: Teo Macero. Reissue producer: Michael Cuscuna. Recorded at 30th Street Studio, New York, New York on May 5 & 12, 1959. Includes liner notes by Diane Dorr-Dorynek and Brian Priestley. Digitally remastered using 20-bit technology by Mark Wilder and Rob Schwarz (Sony Music Studios, New York, New York). This is a Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio CD players. This remastered edition of MINGUS AH UM features six of the original tracks in unedited form and three bonus tracks. Personnel: Charles Mingus (piano, bass); John Handy (alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet); Shafi Hadi (alto & tenor saxophones); Booker Ervin (tenor saxophone); Jimmy Knepper, Willie Dennis (trombone); Horace Parlan (piano); Dannie Richmond (drums). Producer: Teo Macero. Reissue producer: Michael Cuscuna. Recorded at 30th Street Studio, New York, New York on May 5 & 12, 1959. Includes liner notes by Diane Dorr-Dorynek and Brian Priestley. Personnel: Charles Mingus (piano, bass instrument, upright bass); Seymour Barab, Maurice Brown (cello); Jerome Richardson (flute, baritone saxophone); John Handy (clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Shafi Hadi (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Benny Golson, Booker Ervin (tenor saxophone); Richard Gene Williams , Don Ellis (trumpet); Jimmy Knepper, Willie Dennis (trombone); Horace Parlan, Roland Hanna (piano); Teddy Charles (vibraphone); Dannie Richmond (drums). Audio Remixer: Mark Wilder. 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' 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. ~ Steve Huey One of the five essential Mingus albums to own, and even if you are not a jazz fan this is still worthy of being in any comprehensive collection. The opening track, "Better Git It In Your Soul," rushes along at a furious pace and then there is a wonderful change of tempo into an a cappella and handclap pause. It rolls on, of course, but the nature of this track reflects the nature of Mingus who never failed to experiment (even though sometimes he failed). The personnel comprises John Handy III, Shafi Hadi and Booker Ervin (saxophones), Horace Parlan Jr (piano), Willie Dennis and James Knepper (trombones) and Charles Richmond (drums). Mingus whoops, shouts and holds it all together and then turns the pace majestically on numbers such as "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.

Down Beat (p.61) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "MINGUS AH UM combined the ferocity, elegance and sheer brilliance of Mingus' pen and bandleading."

Charles Mingus poured the full weight of his experience into everything he played. He was a powerful virtuoso on bass, and as a composer he drew on the whole history of jazz to produce works of trenchant beauty. Above all, he was an artist whose uncompromising spirit invited both controversy and adulation. In the '40s and '50s he worked as bassist for everyone from Kid Ory and Louis Armstrong to Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk. Mingus began recording as a leader in the early '50s, and by the end of the decade he was at the peak of his powers as bandleader, arranger, and composer. He incorporated the influence of gospel, blues, and European classical composers into a big-band jazz format, crafting an innovative, completely unique sound. Mingus died of Lou Gehrig's Disease in 1978, but his mark on subsequent musical generations is indelible.

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