Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus
Encyclopedia
Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus is an album by jazz
bassist
and composer
Charles Mingus
, recorded and released in 1960. To produce an atmosphere, Mingus makes spoken introductions "live" in the studio: hence the album's title.
The album features a pianoless quartet, a small band for Mingus, in somewhat poor recording conditions on the small label Candid run by Nat Hentoff
. Mingus usually recorded on major labels like Columbia
and Atlantic
; a reason for the choice of a small label was to record his composition "Fables Of Faubus" (here named "Original Faubus Fables") in its entirety: the version that appears on Mingus Ah Um
is without its controversial lyrics (sung by Mingus and drummer Dannie Richmond
) as Columbia felt it would cause problems in referring to Governor Orval Faubus
as a "Nazi
fascist".
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
, recorded and released in 1960. To produce an atmosphere, Mingus makes spoken introductions "live" in the studio: hence the album's title.
The album features a pianoless quartet, a small band for Mingus, in somewhat poor recording conditions on the small label Candid run by Nat Hentoff
Nat Hentoff
Nathan Irving "Nat" Hentoff is an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media and writes regularly on jazz and country music for The Wall Street Journal....
. Mingus usually recorded on major labels like Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
and Atlantic
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
; a reason for the choice of a small label was to record his composition "Fables Of Faubus" (here named "Original Faubus Fables") in its entirety: the version that appears on Mingus Ah Um
Mingus Ah Um
Mingus Ah Um is a jazz album by Charles Mingus, recorded and released on Columbia Records in 1959. It was his first album recorded for Columbia. The cover features a painting by S...
is without its controversial lyrics (sung by Mingus and drummer Dannie Richmond
Dannie Richmond
Dannie Richmond was an American drummer who was best known among jazz fans for his work with Charles Mingus, and among pop fans for his work with Joe Cocker, Elton John and Mark-Almond....
) as Columbia felt it would cause problems in referring to Governor Orval Faubus
Orval Faubus
Orval Eugene Faubus was the 36th Governor of Arkansas, serving from 1955 to 1967. He is best known for his 1957 stand against the desegregation of Little Rock public schools during the Little Rock Crisis, in which he defied a unanimous decision of the United States Supreme Court by ordering the...
as a "Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
fascist".
Track listing
- "Folk Forms No. 1" – 13:08
- "Original Faubus FablesFables of Faubus"Fables of Faubus" is a song composed by jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus. One of Mingus' most explicitly political works, the song was written as a direct protest against Arkansas governor Orval E...
" – 9:19 - "What Love?" – 15:23
- "All The Things You Could Be By Now if Sigmund FreudSigmund FreudSigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
's Wife Was Your Mother" – 8:33
- All compositions by Charles Mingus
Personnel
- Charles MingusCharles MingusCharles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
– bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2... - Ted CursonTed CursonTheodore "Ted" Curson is a jazz trumpeter. He is perhaps best-known for recording and performing with Charles Mingus....
– trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air... - Eric DolphyEric DolphyEric Allan Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and bass clarinetist. On a few occasions he also played the clarinet and baritone saxophone. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the 1960s...
– alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
and bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet... - Dannie RichmondDannie RichmondDannie Richmond was an American drummer who was best known among jazz fans for his work with Charles Mingus, and among pop fans for his work with Joe Cocker, Elton John and Mark-Almond....
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....