Mingus Ah Um is a studio album by American jazz musician Charles Mingus, released in October 1959 by Columbia Records.^[1][2] It was his first album recorded for Columbia. The cover features a painting by S. Neil Fujita.^[4] The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013.^[5]

Dsd Hard Bop, Avant-Garde (Traccia Unica) + booklet SACD-R - Progetto TNT Jazz Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um(1959, SACD Reissue Remastered 1999)Artist: Charles MingusAlbum: Mingus Ah UmEtichetta discografica: ColumbiaLabel: Legacy - CS 65512Format: SACD, AlbumCountry: USAnno: 1959Ristampa del: 08 Febbraio 1999Genre: JazzStyle: Hard Bop, Avant-Garde JazzCodec audio: DSD 2.0 (Direct.

Composition[edit]

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 and features a quote of Sonny Rollins' 'Sonnymoon for Two' during Horace Parlan's piano solo. 'Bird Calls', in Mingus's own words, was not a reference to bebop saxophonist 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 (as can be heard on the 1960 release Presents Charles Mingus).

Reception[edit]

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

50th Anniversary reissue[edit]

In 2009, Sony's Legacy Recordings released a special 2-disc 50th Anniversary Edition of Mingus Ah Um. In addition to the complete album, the Legacy Edition includes an alternative take of each of three tracks: 'Bird Calls' (4:54), 'Better Git It In Your Soul' (8:30), and 'Jelly Roll' (6:41). The Legacy Edition of Mingus Ah Um also includes Mingus Dynasty, its companion album recorded later in 1959 (with unedited versions of five tracks shortened on the original LP release).^[11][12]

Track listing[edit]

All songs composed by Charles Mingus, except 12, composed by Sunny Clapp. Original LP song lengths are given within parentheses.

1. 'Better Git It in Your Soul' – 7:23
2. 'Goodbye Pork Pie Hat' – 5:44 (4:46)
3. 'Boogie Stop Shuffle' – 5:02 (3:41)
4. 'Self-Portrait in Three Colors' – 3:10
5. 'Open Letter to Duke' – 5:51 (4:56)
6. 'Bird Calls' – 6:17 (3:12)
7. 'Fables of Faubus' – 8:13
8. 'Pussy Cat Dues' – 9:14 (6:27)
9. 'Jelly Roll' – 6:17 (4:01)

Bonus tracks on later reissues

10. 'Pedal Point Blues' – 6:30
11. 'GG Train' – 4:39
12. 'Girl of My Dreams' – 4:08

Notes

• When Columbia first issued the album in 1959, six of the album's nine songs (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9) were edited in order to fit them on the LP; certain songs were shortened by several minutes. These six tracks were first restored in 1979 and three other recordings were discovered. Later reissues contain both the full-length versions of the original nine tracks and the three new tracks.^{[citation needed]}
• Tracks 1, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 recorded on May 5, 1959; tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 11 and 12 recorded on May 12, 1959. All tracks recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York City.

Personnel[edit]

• John Handy – alto sax (1, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12), clarinet (8), tenor sax (2)^[13]
• Booker Ervin – tenor sax
• Shafi Hadi – tenor sax (2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10), alto sax (1, 5, 6, 9, 12)
• Willie Dennis – trombone (3, 4, 5, 12)
• Jimmy Knepper – trombone (1, 7, 8, 9, 10)
• Horace Parlan – piano
• Charles Mingus – bass, piano (with Parlan on track 10)
• Dannie Richmond – drums

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abColumbia Records (5 Oct 1959). 'New in October from Columbia Records'. The Billboard. The Billboard Publishing Co. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
2. ^ ^ab'October Album Releases'(PDF). The Cash Box. The Cash Box Publishing Co. Inc., NY. 10 Oct 1959. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
3. ^'Mingus Ah Um and Mingus Dynasty are considered his best post-bop'. The Absolute Sound (134): 55. February–March 2002.
4. ^'Waxing Chromatic: An Interview with S. Neil Fujita'. AIGA. 2007-09-18. Retrieved 2012-03-01.
5. ^Tamarkin, Jeff (November 21, 2012). 'Coltrane, Mingus, Tristano Recordings Honored by Grammy Hall of Fame: Louis Jordan, James Brown, Ray Charles also Awarded'. JazzTimes. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014.
6. ^'Mingus Ah Um - Charles Mingus - Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards - AllMusic'. AllMusic. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
7. ^'Charles Mingus'. PopMatters. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
8. ^Jacob Teichroew. 'Mingus Ah Um Jazz Music Album - Charles Mingus Ah Um Review'. About. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
9. ^Wolfgang Doebeling (29 October 2008). 'Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um'. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
10. ^Hull, Tom (n.d.). 'Essential Jazz Albums of the 1950s'. tomhull.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
11. ^'Charles Mingus'. Pitchfork. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
12. ^Stuart Broomer. 'Charles Mingus: Mingus Ah Um: 50th Anniversary Legacy Edition'. All About Jazz. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
13. ^'Mingus Ah Um'. Retrieved 6 March 2016.

• Priestley, Brian. Sleeve notes to 1998 reissue of Mingus Ah Um (Columbia CK 65512)

External links[edit]

• Mingus Ah Um at Discogs (list of releases)

Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um (1959) Reissue 1999PS3 Rip SACD ISO DSD64 2.0 1-bit/2.8224 MHz 72:09 minutes Scans included 2,93 GBor FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz Full Scans included 1,43 GBGenre: JazzMingus Ah Um is a studio album by American jazz musician Charles Mingus, released in 1959 by Columbia Records. It was his first album recorded for Columbia. 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.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’ most revered influences: “Open Letter to Duke” is inspired by Duke Ellington 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.Tracklist:01. Better Git It In Your Soul02. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat03. Boogie Stop Shuffle04.

(story) (1935).

Self-Portrait In Three Colors05. Open Letter To Duke06. Bird Calls07. Fables Of Faubus08. Pussy Cat Dues09. Jelly Roll10.

Pedal Point Blues Bonus Track11. GG Train Bonus Track12. Girl Of My Dreams Bonus TrackRecorded on May 5 and May 12, 1959 at Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York City.PersonnelJohn Handy – alto sax (1, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12), clarinet (8), tenor sax (2)Booker Ervin – tenor saxShafi Hadi – tenor sax (2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10), alto sax (1, 5, 6, 9, 12)Willie Dennis – trombone (3, 4, 5, 12)Jimmy Knepper – trombone (1, 7, 8, 9, 10)Horace Parlan – pianoCharles Mingus – bass, piano (with Parlan on track 10)Dannie Richmond – drumsISOFLAC.