Mingus (Charles Mingus album)

Mingus
Studio album by Charles Mingus
Released	October or November 1961[1][2][3]
Recorded	20 October and 11 November 1960
Studio	Nola Penthouse Sound Studios, New York City
Genre	Jazz
Length	39:52
Label	Candid CJM-8021/CJS-9021
Charles Mingus chronology
Pre-Bird (1961) Mingus (1961) Newport Rebels (1961)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
DownBeat	[5]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[7]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[6]

Mingus is an album by the jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus. The album was recorded in October and November 1960 in New York and released in late 1961 on Nat Hentoff's Candid label.^[1][2][3]

Background

At this time Mingus was working regularly with a piano-less quartet featuring Eric Dolphy, Ted Curson and Dannie Richmond, as heard on the Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus album also recorded in October 1960. The Mingus album features one track, "Stormy Weather", recorded by the same quartet, plus two tracks recorded by a larger group featuring piano and additional horns.

The track "M.D.M." weaves together the themes from three compositions: Duke Ellington's "Main Stem", Thelonious Monk's "Straight, No Chaser" and Mingus's own "Fifty-First Street Blues". The track "Lock 'Em Up" was inspired by a period of treatment that Mingus describes undergoing in his autobiography Beneath the Underdog, at New York's Bellevue psychiatric facility.

Track listings

Candid release

1. "M.D.M. (Monk, Duke and Me)" – 19:49
2. "Stormy Weather"* – 13:23
3. "Lock 'Em Up (Hellview of Bellevue)" – 6:40

All compositions by Charles Mingus except * by Harold Arlen & Ted Koehler

Barnaby reissue

In April, 1974, Barnaby Records reissued this album as Mingus: The Candid Recordings (KZ-31034), adding the track "Vasserlean", which had appeared only on a 1961 Candid Records various-artists collection called Jazz Life (CJM-8019/CJS-9019). The new track listing was:

1. "M.D.M. (Monk, Duke and Me)" – 19:49
2. "Vasserlean" – 6:35
3. "Stormy Weather" – 13:23
4. "Lock 'Em Up (Hellview of Bellevue)" – 6:40

Jazz Man reissue

In 1980, Jazz Man Records reissued this album under its original Candid title, Mingus (JAZ-5002), also including the track "Vasserlean." The track listing was:

1. "Stormy Weather" – 13:23
2. "Lock 'Em Up (Hellview of Bellevue)" – 6:40
3. "M.D.M. (Monk, Duke and Me)" – 19:49
4. "Vasserlean" – 6:35

Personnel

• Charles Mingus – bass
• Ted Curson, Lonnie Hillyer – trumpet
• Jimmy Knepper, Britt Woodman – trombone
• Charles McPherson – alto saxophone
• Eric Dolphy – alto saxophone, flute and bass clarinet
• Booker Ervin – tenor saxophone
• Nico Bunink, Paul Bley – piano
• Dannie Richmond – drums

References

1. "New LP Releases". Billboard Music Week. The Billboard Publishing Co. 23 October 1961. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
2. "Reviews of New Albums". Billboard Music Week. The Billboard Publishing Co. 6 November 1961. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
3. "Mingus" (PDF). The Cash Box. The Cash Box Publishing Co. Inc., NY. 25 Nov 1961. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
4. Proefrock., Stacia (2011). "Mingus - Charles Mingus | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
5. Down Beat: February 1, 1962 vol. 29, no. 3
6. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 142. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
7. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1003. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.