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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
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
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Cd > Popular Music > JazzCD > POPULAR MUSIC > JAZZ
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 41 people found the following review helpful
By jazz convert
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!
64 of 65 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
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.
44 of 45 people found the following review helpful
By Ian Thumwood
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.
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
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. If you know all the classics (the best of Miles, Ellington et al) and are looking for something as good that's a little less well known this is certainly one to go for.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By The Penguin
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Audio CD
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 Chicago!
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Lewis Graham
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
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 that shaped Jazz in 1959. Fifty years on, this album still has the power to amaze.
The opening track, Better Git it in Your Soul, is a joyous stomp, leading onto Good By Pork Pie Hat which is a calm and charming piece. There then follows Boogie Stop Shuffle - simply one of the most thrilling pieces of Jazz I have ever heard - with a driven bass line, fabulous saxophone and trumpet.
The treasures keep coming - Bird Calls (a tribute to Charlie Parker) bursts with the be-bop inspired dissonance Parker loved. There's even political comment: Fable to Faubus (a governor of Arkansas opposed to racial integration) seems to mock the governor for his attitudes.
This edition has three extra tracks over the original album. If you have only an early CD release or LP and love this album, this edition is worth buying for the extra tracks. This edition also contains a decent illustrated booklet with material from 1959 and later critical review which makes it worth buying the CD rather than downloading.
The opening track, Better Git it in Your Soul, is a joyous stomp, leading onto Good By Pork Pie Hat which is a calm and charming piece. There then follows Boogie Stop Shuffle - simply one of the most thrilling pieces of Jazz I have ever heard - with a driven bass line, fabulous saxophone and trumpet.
The treasures keep coming - Bird Calls (a tribute to Charlie Parker) bursts with the be-bop inspired dissonance Parker loved. There's even political comment: Fable to Faubus (a governor of Arkansas opposed to racial integration) seems to mock the governor for his attitudes.
This edition has three extra tracks over the original album. If you have only an early CD release or LP and love this album, this edition is worth buying for the extra tracks. This edition also contains a decent illustrated booklet with material from 1959 and later critical review which makes it worth buying the CD rather than downloading.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Keith M
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This 1959 album by master jazz player and composer Charles Mingus is rightly acknowledged as one of Mingus' (and indeed jazz's) finest and most diverse set of compositions. Whilst the album does not have (or need) the vast expansive instrumental sound of Mingus' 1963 masterpiece, The Black Saint And Sinner Lady, its sparser feel is perfectly suited to Mingus' compositions here, particularly on the exquisite slower and moody numbers (of which there is an outstanding selection here).
Of the musicians Mingus assembled for the album, both John Handy's alto and Booker Ervin's tenor playing are particularly noteworthy and idiosyncratic, whilst Jimmy Knepper's trombone is featured in a number of outstanding solos (none better than his sinuous turn on the wonderful slow blues of Pussy Cat Dues, in this case over Handy's rare clarinet theme). Of the more up-tempo numbers, the famous opener, gospel-inspired Better Git It In Your Soul is an fine example, as Handy and Ervin's horns harmonise nicely following Mingus' sultry opening riff, whilst the 12-bar blues Boogie Stop Shuffle is probably the most vibrant number here, with all three saxes (including Shafi Hadi's tenor) making significant contributions to the composition's unrelenting pace.
For me, however, it is on the slower, blues-based numbers that the band's mood playing is particularly affecting.... Read more ›
Of the musicians Mingus assembled for the album, both John Handy's alto and Booker Ervin's tenor playing are particularly noteworthy and idiosyncratic, whilst Jimmy Knepper's trombone is featured in a number of outstanding solos (none better than his sinuous turn on the wonderful slow blues of Pussy Cat Dues, in this case over Handy's rare clarinet theme). Of the more up-tempo numbers, the famous opener, gospel-inspired Better Git It In Your Soul is an fine example, as Handy and Ervin's horns harmonise nicely following Mingus' sultry opening riff, whilst the 12-bar blues Boogie Stop Shuffle is probably the most vibrant number here, with all three saxes (including Shafi Hadi's tenor) making significant contributions to the composition's unrelenting pace.
For me, however, it is on the slower, blues-based numbers that the band's mood playing is particularly affecting.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mingus Ah Um
I loved it; as I say every time I love all my CD's, this is adding to my collection of Jazz.
Published 18 days ago by Mrs. J.A. Madeira-Cole
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great
What do you say about good jazz, this is music to bring you back to the stoneage. Musical instruments are live animals.
Published 29 days ago by G. Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic
This album was reviewed on BBC program ,and it came over as worth a listen , so I purchased it .It is a work of genius .
Published 3 months ago by JB
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Classic
A great album which I missed first time around and now have installed on my Iphone. How lucky can you get
Published 3 months ago by grumpy old man
1.0 out of 5 stars
old classic lives up to expectations
I first heard tis album in the ealry sixties and I loved it then. I hadn't heard it until I bought this copy and was concerned hat I had a rose-tinted memory of it and would be... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Grey Dave
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beatiful sound!
The title says it all. However, for a 3-track recording, I would have expected a 3 channel playback option like Time Out and Kind of Blue from the same Columbia SACD series and... Read more
Published 4 months ago by U No Hoo!
5.0 out of 5 stars
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 14 months ago by Tysonbob
4.0 out of 5 stars
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 on 21 April 2011 by Rusty
5.0 out of 5 stars
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 on 19 Nov 2010 by Eric Rice
5.0 out of 5 stars
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
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