There are few in the world of jazz, or in music in general, who can truly be considered sui generis. Armstrong, Ellington, Miles and Monk come to immediate mind. Among the absolute geniuses of jazz has to be bassist, leader and provocateur Charles Mingus, who bridged the gap between traditional jazz and free form improvisation. If you are only vaguely familiar with Mingus, this three disc, 28 song collection is the absolutely first place to start and get acquainted, as it contains three of his most essential albums, all groundbreaking in their own rights and still sounding fresher than 99% of what is heard on today’s mp3s.
Pithecanthropus Erectus from 1956 is Mingus’ first concept album, and has him with the auspicious team of Jackie McLean/as, Mal Waldron/p, JR Montrose/ts and Willie Jones/dr (soon to be replaced by Mingus’ heartbeat, Dannie Richmond). Bringing in his love for Ellington, Mingus uses the title tune as a suite of wide ranging proportions, filled with passion and drama. His humor is already evident at this stage in his career, with a hoot of a take of “A Foggy Day”. Next year, Mingus brings in a whole new team of Dannie Richmond/dr, Wade Legge/p, Jimmy Knepper/tb, Shafi Hadi/as-ts and narrator Jean Shepherd for the thrilling, dramatic and passionate “Haitian Fight Song” that contains blistering solos by Knepper and Waldron, while Mingus’ allegiance to Charlie Parker is felt on “Reincarnation of a Lovebird”.
Mingus brings in his Pentecostal church roots into his musical vision on his 1959 album, with the swaying holy roller of “Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting”, “Crying Blues” and “Moanin’” . The larger ensemble of Pepper Dams/bs, Willie Dennis/tb, Booker Ervin/ts, John H andy/as, Jimmy Knepper/tb, Jackie McLean/as, Horace Parlan-Mal Waldron/p and Richmond sway like a preacher and congregation on the rollicking “E’s Flat Ah’s Flat Too”. The same year, Mingus hits his high water mark with essentially the same band, with Ervin giving his all time best solo to MIngus’ all time favorite song, “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”. Swaying social messages abound as on “Fables of Faubus” while homages are played to inspirations on “Open Letter to Duke” and “Jelly Roll”.
This is a boxed set of Desert Island Discs. WHEW!