Charles Mingus
Jazz great Charles Mingus was born on April 22, 1922, in Nogales, Arizona, and grew up in Los Angeles. The renowned bassist performed with such legends as Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker, and earned acclaim for his work as a bandleader and recording artist. After struggling with depression, Mingus made a successful comeback in the 1970s. He died in Cuernavaca, Mexico, on January 5, 1979.
Jazz great Charles Mingus was born on April 22, 1922, in Nogales, Arizona, and grew up in Los Angeles. The renowned bassist performed with such legends as Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker, and earned acclaim for his work as a bandleader and recording artist. After struggling with depression, Mingus made a successful comeback in the 1970s. He died in Cuernavaca, Mexico, on January 5, 1979.
Mingus Ah Um
2024 stock 180gr pure virgin vinyl LP in Gatefold packaging. "Mingus Ah Um", featuring an all-star group including Jimmy Knepper, John Handy, Booker Ervin and Curtis Porter (aka Shafi Hadi), was Charles Mingus’ first LP for Columbia. The Penguin Guide to Jazz called this album “an extended tribute to ancestors” and awarded it one of their rare crowns.
Reception was also good when "Mingus Ah Um" was first issued. Leonard Feather gave the album a five-star rating in Down Beat, stating: “First let’…
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady
*2024 stock* Official Reissue in collaboration with Impulse Records! Special gate-fold edition. Recorded on January 20, 1963, by an eleven-piece band and released in July of that year by Impulse!, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady consists of a single continuous composition partially written as a ballet divided into four tracks and six movements. Charles Mingus defined the album's orchestral style as "ethnic folk dance music", and it blends jazz and classical, while also integrating elements o…
Shadows
John Cassavetes’ directorial debut Shadows was a largely improvised film set in the bohemian jazz scene of 1950s New York; often referred to as the first truly independent film of American cinema, it featured a brief disjointed soundtrack improvised by Charles Mingus and his saxophonist Shafi Hadi, with various percussionists slotting in, including Phineas Newborn Jr. Gloriously messy, reportedly unfinished and referred to with scorn by Mingus, the Shadows soundtrack sketches ultimately yielded …
Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus To Pre Bird „Revisited“
"Heard together, Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus and Pre Bird suggest the enormity of
Charles Mingus’ artistic vision. No one album encompasses it in its entirety, and perhaps not even
two or three. However, these recordings, made six months apart in 1960, vividly summarized his
work to date, as he headed towards to jazz’s pantheon." – Bill Shoemaker
At Antibes 1960, Revisited
Temporary Super Offer! "Mingus the visionary composer. Mingus the virtuoso bassist. Mingus the volcanic bandleader. As the 1960s began, with the new decade bringing a radically expansive new view of the possibilities of jazz expression, Charles Mingus, by virtue of his brilliantly nonconformist creative imagination, willingness to take risks along experimental paths, and (because of, or in spite of) an oft-times confrontational rebellious nature, had established himself among those in the forefr…
Town Hall Concert, 1964
Charles Mingus brought together an amazing lineup spanning the totality of the nation's jazz scene with such luminaries as Eric Dolphy, Buddy Collette, Clark Terry, Zoot Sims, Pepper Adams, Jaki Byard, Grady Tate, and more. Brought together to perform new Mingus compositions for the first time in public, the recording was initially considered weak due to limited rehearsal time but the years have been kind to this recording and it's a fantastic set of Mingus compositions, including the powerful "…
Introducing Paul Bley
*Limited edition of 500 copies.* Originally released in 1953 on Charles Mingus's own "Debut" label, this is Paul Bley's historical debut album. Here the young talented and technically strong pianist appears as leader of a super-trio with nothing but Mingus himself on bass and Art Blakey on drums. This is a beautifully varied set including both renditions of classic standards such as "I can't get Started", and Bley's early originals like "Opus 1" and "Spontaneous Combustion" This is where you ca…
East Coasting
*Limited Clear Vinyl edition, 500 copies* Recorded in 1957 this is one of Charles Mingus's lesser known sessions. Here the master was at the head of an awesome band including some of his regular sidemen. Jimmy Knepper - trombone, Shafi Hadi - alto saxophone, tenor saxophone and Dannie Richmond - drums, along with nothing but Bill Evans on piano! This is dense, lyrical and very stimulating music deeply rooted in the bop tradition yet with an open ear to other sound territories.
"One of Charles …
Jazz in Detroit / Strata Concert Gallery / 46 Selden
**In process of stocking 5CD boxset includes poster, CD booklet, 5 CDs in cardboard wallets, housed all together in a clamshell box ** The radical discovery by Amir Abdullah of 5 two-track master tapes in the care of Hermine Brooks – widow of innovative Detroit drummer Roy Brooks – of the Charles Mingus Quintet recorded live in Detroit at Strata Concert Gallery is cause for some serious celebration. These electrifying recordings took place during Mingus’ week-long residency in February 1973. Th…
John Cassavetes' Shadows
For the first time on vinyl, Charles Mingus's great score for the legendary 1959 directorial debut of John Cassavetes, Shadows. Much has been said about the controversial relationship between these two masters."The score encapsulates Cassavetes's and Mingus's unique approaches to both improvisation and composition in their respective media, illuminating the oppositional nature of jazz to mainstream cultural production and the underbelly of race relations in 1950's America." - Ross Lipman
Mingus at Antibes
You can be sure that jazz fans in the year 1960 were unfamiliar with Charles Mingus’s LPs Blues and Roots or Mingus Ah-Um when they poured into the Pinède Gould Arena at the Antibes Jazz Festival held in Juan-les-Pins, France on 13 July. At any rate, as can be seen in a short video clip, all the seats were occupied. In addition, a really good trumpeter was there, whose name would later resound throughout Europe: Ted Curson. What is more, the legendary Bud Powell, who lived in France, was invited…
The Eldridge Session
The great bassist and band leader Charles Mingus cut some of his most exciting and rewarding recordings in 1960. Taped during the apex of Mingus's creativity, this incredible session showcases such stars as Roy Eldridge on trumpet, Jimmy Knepper on trombone, Eric Dolphy on alto saxophone, Tommy Flanagan on piano, and Jo Jones on drums. First edition of 500 (numbered).
Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus
Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus is the bassist and composer Charles Mingus' legendary experiment in a large group setting. Featuring an 11 piece group with new arrangements on some of his most well known compositions, this album is one of Mingus' most timeless and influential releases. Originally released in 1964, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus is an essential title from one of jazz's most enduring figures.
Shadows
For the first time on vinyl, Charles Mingus's great score for the legendary 1959 directorial debut of John Cassavetes, Shadows. Much has been said about the controversial relationship between these two masters. "The score encapsulates Cassavetes' and Mingus's unique approaches to both improvisation and composition in their respective media, illuminating the oppositional nature of jazz to mainstream cultural production and the underbelly of race relations in 1950's America" --Ross Lipman, "Mi…
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
Heralded by many as Charles Mingus' masterwork, "Black Saint and the Sinner Lady" stands as one of his most powerful and difficult compositions. Recorded during his brief tenure on Impulse! (1963, during which Mingus turned out three of his best works), "Black Saint and the Sinner Lady" is a suite for a ballet, perhaps a representation of the tortured psyche of the composer. It is dark, haunting, and probably the most difficult work Mingus has ever done-- drawing as much from contemporary classi…
Mingus Plays Piano
Superior Viaduct's second Mingus reissue shows a more introspective side of the composer with Mingus Plays Piano. One of his most straightforwardly beautiful recordings, there is a meditative calm found in Mingus' piano work, touching on shades of Debussy, Satie, Bill Evans, and Duke Ellington. There's no showboating, and not an ounce of amateurism considering Mingus was primarily known as a bassist. Making its way through standards, original compositions, and the blues, Mingus Plays Piano is a …