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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Mercurial bassist and bandleader Charles Mingus was signed to Columbia Records for the briefest of time during 1959. His Columbia recordings, however, remain some of the most inspired, mood-jumping jazz in history. The flowing sadness of "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" (unedited here for the first time on CD!) rings like a funeral chorus that pitches headlong into a celebration of Lester Young's life and improvising flexibility, rather than his death. And there's the funky furnace blast of "Boogie Stop Shuffle" (also unedited!), which reaches its glory with Booker Ervin's Texas tenor sax, wrapped tight in bluesy tone. With the index of emotions captured, these songs nail why Mingus is possibly the most relevant jazzer for the 1990s generation. He swings and shouts and hollers and somersaults. His tunes either induce foot-stomping with their intensity or reach for poignant yearning with their lyrical tapestry of orchestral colors. --Andrew Bartlett
Product Description
Cd > Popular Music > JazzCD > POPULAR MUSIC > JAZZ
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is a rarity - a Mingus album with no duff tracks at all - everything is spot-on.The eclecticism of the music and its execution are breathtaking - if you need music to wake you up, try Boogie Stop Shuffle (so that's where they got the Mission Impossible theme from!).The gentler side of Mingus emerges beautifully on the slower tracks such as Pork Pie Hat.As for the recording - how did they manage such stunning sound? OK,it's remastered, but compare it to Monk CDs from the same time and it leaves them behind - vibrant,balanced,clear and dynamic - a must-buy!
59 of 60 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Ah Um is one of Charles Mingus's most richly textured albums, dense and dynamic all at once. It is almost as if the whole of the jazz tradition to that date, and some vision of its immediate future, were crammed into three-quarters of an hour.
It is not as ambitious as The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963) and still retains some measure of conventionality in the structures of some of its constituent pieces: introduction, ensemble statement of the theme, solos, development, recapitulation, closing statement.
Peculiar wails weave themselves in and out of ironic quotations from Ellington, from Mingus, from the blues, all cloaked in the enormity of the Mingus sound, thrust forward by rhythms and counter-rhythms tightly driven by Dannie Richmond. It contains the passionate, aching "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat". An indispensable album.
43 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
In a era that produced such original composers as Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols , Mingus' approach to composition always seemed more organic and embedded deeper within the roots of jazz than these contemporaries. (Nichols, in particular, had the musical knowledge to look outside of jazz for inspiration.) This is largely compensated by the sheer physical emotion of the music that largely consisted of material based upon the blues. The impact of Mingus is immediate and passionate. On top of this, he was influenced by the music of Duke Ellington and was a great believer in the need for sudden shifts in tempo and mood with which to colour his music. This approach probably reached it's zenith in "Mingus Ah Um" where his group deliever the definative performances of some of his most celebrated tunes.
From the opening gospel inspired number in 6/8 time through to the loving dixieland pastiche dedicated to a certain Mr. Jelly Roll Morton at the end, this is gripping stuff. The music ranges from exciting bebop such as "Boogie Stop Shuffle" through to "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", a threnody to Lester Young.
This is not only an essential purchase for fans of the bassist, but should be in every jazz collection. The whole performance is driven along by the great Dannie Richmond on drums and the energy he provides merits this purchase alone. A true jazz classic.
From the opening gospel inspired number in 6/8 time through to the loving dixieland pastiche dedicated to a certain Mr. Jelly Roll Morton at the end, this is gripping stuff. The music ranges from exciting bebop such as "Boogie Stop Shuffle" through to "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", a threnody to Lester Young.
This is not only an essential purchase for fans of the bassist, but should be in every jazz collection. The whole performance is driven along by the great Dannie Richmond on drums and the energy he provides merits this purchase alone. A true jazz classic.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Proper Jazz
This album shows what Charlie Mingus could achieve. It sounds aggressive and exciting. The free solos are actually disciplined and not too long for their content, even though the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Tysonbob
Skilfull jazz, but I have one gripe
This is undeniably good jazz and can be listened to again and again. My only criticism (and one that bugged me enough to leave a comment on here) would be the brief drum solos from... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Rusty
Charles Mingus, a unique voice in jazz.
Anyone wanting to broaden their experience of modern jazz would do well to add this album to their collection. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Eric Rice
Mingus Ah Um
Loved it. First album I have bought by him and can't stop playing it.
Published on 30 April 2010 by Ms. A. Rowe
When I firts got this CD I listened to it round the clock for a week.
Just to say that this is enjoyable - not keen to analyse. If you never listened to a bass properly then do it now.
Published on 11 April 2010 by L. Ferguson
Amazing
Top tunes played by a craftsman, still sounds as fresh as when it was recorded.
Published on 11 Feb 2010 by Karl Lillis
The Power to Amaze
This album, along with three others (Miles Davies - Kind of Blue, Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come and Dave Brubeck - Time Out) were recently identified as key albums... Read more
Published on 1 May 2009 by Lewis Graham
Mingus at his best
Not much more to say than - Buy this album! - Mingus is really at his very best here, quality of the recording is breathtaking, close your eyes, light a cigar and drift off to... Read more
Published on 16 Oct 2003 by The Penguin
A must have jazz album
This rates as one of my top five Jazz albums of all time. A mix of longer structured pieces with a mid-sized band but tinged with bop-like improvisation and character. Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2001
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