Mingus Ah Um 1959: Album review and songs from Answers.com

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Artist: Charles Mingus
Rating:
Release Date: 1959
Total Time: 72:11
Type: Instrumental
Genre: Jazz

Review

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, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Better Get It in Your Soul	Charles Mingus	Charles Mingus	(7:21)
Goodbye Pork Pie Hat	Charles Mingus	Charles Mingus	(5:42)
Boogie Stop Shuffle	Charles Mingus	Charles Mingus	(4:59)
Self-Portrait in Three Colors	Charles Mingus	Charles Mingus	(3:08)
Open Letter to Duke	Charles Mingus	Charles Mingus	(5:49)
Bird Calls	Charles Mingus	Charles Mingus	(6:18)
Fables of Faubus	Charles Mingus	Charles Mingus	(8:13)
Pussy Cat Dues	Charles Mingus	Charles Mingus	(9:13)
Jelly Roll	Charles Mingus	Charles Mingus	(6:15)

Credits

Mark Wilder (Remixing), Bob Parent (Photography), Charles Mingus (Bass), Mark Wilder (Engineer), John Handy (Saxophone), Charles Mingus (Piano), Rob Schwarz (Remastering), Seth Rothstein (Project Director), Shafi Hadi (Sax (Alto)), Horace Parlan (?), Howard Fritzson (Art Direction), Jimmy Knepper (?), Mike Cimicata (Packaging Manager), Booker Ervin (Saxophone), Teo Macero (Original Recording Producer), Mark Wilder (Digital Remixing), Ray Moore (Engineer), Shafi Hadi (Sax (Tenor)), Rene Arsenault (Production Assistant), Howard Fritzson (Reissue Art Director), Seth Rothstein (Project Coordinator), Mark Wilder (Remastering), Horace Parlan (Piano), Fred Plaut (Engineer), Jimmy Knepper (Trombone), John Handy (Clarinet), John Handy (Sax (Alto)), Dannie Richmond (Drums), Booker Ervin (?), Randall Martin (Reissue Design), Willie Dennis (Trombone), Brian Priestley (Liner Notes), Don Hunstein (Photography), Rob Schwarz (Digital Remixing), Teo Macero (Producer), Booker Ervin (Sax (Tenor)), Michael Cuscuna (Reissue Producer)

Album information

Songs

The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD calls this album "an extended tribute to ancestors" (and awards it one of their rare crowns), and Mingus's musical forebears figure largely throughout. "Better Git It In Your Soul" is inspired by gospel singing and preaching of the sort that Mingus would have heard as a child growing up in Watts, Los Angeles, California, while "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" is a reference (by way of his favored headgear) to saxophonist Lester Young (who had died shortly before the album was recorded). The origin and nature of "Boogie Stop Shuffle" is self-explanatory: a twelve-bar blues with four themes and a boogie bass backing that passes from stop time to shuffle and back.

"Self-Portrait in Three Colors" was originally written for John Cassavetes' first film as director, Shadows, but was never used (for budgetary reasons). "Open Letter to Duke" is a tribute to Duke Ellington, and draws on three of Mingus's earlier pieces ("Nouroog", "Duke's Choice", and "Slippers"). "Jelly Roll" is a reference to jazz pioneer and pianist Jelly Roll Morton; "Bird Calls," in Mingus' own words, was not a reference to bebop legend Charlie "Bird" Parker: "It wasn't supposed to sound like Charlie Parker. It was supposed to sound like birds - the first part."

"Fables of Faubus" is named after Orval E. Faubus (1910–1994), the Governor of Arkansas infamous for his 1957 stand against integration of Little Rock, Arkansas schools in defiance of U.S. Supreme Court rulings (forcing President Eisenhower to send in the National Guard). It is sometimes claimed that Columbia refused to allow the lyrics to be included on this album, though the liner notes to the 1998 reissue of the album state that the piece started life as an instrumental, and only gained the lyrics later.

Reception

Mingus Ah Um was one of fifty recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry in 2003.

Track listing

When Columbia first issued the album, six of the nine numbers were shortened in order to fit them on the LP. When in 1979 these six tracks were restored, three other recorded tracks were discovered, and the reissue contains both the full-length versions of the original tracks and the three new tracks: "Pedal Point Blues", "GG Train", and "Girl of My Dreams".

"Better Git It In Your Soul" (7:21)

"Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" (4:46/5:42)

"Boogie Stop Shuffle" (3:41/4:59)

"Self-Portrait in Three Colors" (3:08)

"Open Letter to Duke" (4:56/5:49)

"Bird Calls" (3:12/6:18)

"Fables of Faubus" (8:13)

"Pussy Cat Dues" (6:27/9:13)

"Jelly Roll" (4:01/6:15)

"Pedal Point Blues" (6:30) [*reissued bonus track]

"GG Train" (4:39) [*reissued bonus track]

"Girl of My Dreams" (4:08) (Sonny Clapp) [*reissued bonus track]

(All compositions by Charles Mingus, except #12)

1, 6–10: recorded 5 May 1959; Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York City.

2–5, 11–12: recorded 12 May 1959; Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York City.

Mingus Ah Um