Mingus Ah Um

Occupation

Mingus Ah Um is a jazz album by Charles Mingus, which was recorded and released in 1959.

Name and design of the album

The title Mingus Ah Um is derived from a play on words with a mnemonic to learn Latin forms. Students learn Latin adjectives often caused by their male, female and neuter nominative singular form (usually ending in - " a" and " to " us "") is pronounced in a row ( about the adjective " magnus " (large): " magnus "," -A "," - to "); this is how then " ah magnus to " extremely. Another album title of Mingus is also based on a play on words, Mingus Dynasty, after the Ming Dynasty.

The graphic design is by S. Neil Fujita, who was also responsible for the design of which appeared simultaneously Dave Brubeck album Time Out.

The Music

Better Git It in Your Soul is inspired by the Gospel music that may have heard as a child, Mingus, as he grew up in Watts (Los Angeles ) California. With an ecstatic band playing the bass player unleashed a " seething gospel hard bop surf " ( Horst Weber and Gerd Filtgen in the German Mingus biography ); in parts but the piece goes into waltz time. In a haunting account of its ongoing repetitions solo Parlan ultimately follows the highlight of the solo by Booker Ervin where this as the preacher in the church is accompanied only by the rhythmic clapping ensemble.

Goodbye Pork Pie Hat is a direct reference to Lester Young, who had died a few months before the album's release. The pork pie hat, a hat that takes its name from a resemblance to a meat pie, was the preferred headgear of Lester Young. John Handy plays exceptionally a solo on the tenor saxophone.

The origin of Boogie Stop Shuffle is self-explanatory. It is a 12-bar blues with four themes and a boogie bass, which is first played in mid-tempo, and then switch to the slower pace and even come to a Latin rhythm.

Self-Portrait in Three Colors was originally written for John Cassavetes Shadows ' first film, but was there not used for financial reasons.

Open Letter to Duke is a tribute to Duke Ellington and is partly based on three earlier pieces of Mingus ( Nouroog, Duke's Choice and slippers ). A fast-paced alto solo by John Phone is not included on the first published abridged version.

Pussy Cat Blues is a tribute to the New Orleans Jazz with a solo by John Handy on the clarinet. Jelly Roll is an obvious reference to Jelly Roll Morton. In contrast Birdcalls was in Mingus 's own words, no reference to the bebop legend: ". . It was not Supposed to sound like Charlie Parker It was Supposed to sound like birds - the first part"

Fables of Faubus is named after Orval Faubus (1910-1994), the infamous governor of Arkansas, who fought against the lifting of racial segregation at the Little Rock Central High School in the state of Arkansas and President Eisenhower to send the 101st Airborne Division ( forced against the National Guard ). The composition that sounds like a nursery rhyme, will be carried very gracious in this first recording of this classic Mingus and does not show the ironic bite of the recordings from the 1960s. During Piano Solos Mingus increases by twice as fast played bass sent the voltage.

Reception and Awards

The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD calls the album " an impressive tribute to the (musical) ancestors " and awarded it one of his rare crowns. According to the German Mingus biographer Horst Weber and Gerd Filtgen heard the album " the most interesting plates that Mingus has ever recorded ." Leonard Feather from Downbeat magazine gave the album shortly after its release 5 stars. He wrote:

" Mingus Has something to say, knows how and through splat to say it, and it is all stated with communicative authority. "

" Mingus has something to say, he knows how and by whom it is to say, and everything is presented with communicative competence. "

2012, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

The tracks on the album

As a Columbia album issued in 1959 on LP, six of the nine pieces were cut to match the length of a game LP. In 1979, the original length of these six pieces was restored. Together with three additional non- original published pieces of the same recording sessions they were published on the double LP Nostalgia in Time Square, and later on CD.

The playing time figures in brackets refer to the shortened versions of the 1959 LP release:

Additional pieces on later re-releases

All compositions by Charles Mingus except Girl of my Dreams derived from Sonny Clapp.

The pieces 1 and 6-10 were taken on May 5, 1959 Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York City.

The pieces 2-5 and 11-12 were taken on May 12, 1959 Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York City.

Swell

  • Mingus Ah Um: 50th Anniversary Legacy Edition
  • Horst Weber, Gerd Filtgen: Charles Mingus. His life, his music, his records. Oreos, Gauting - book village, undated, ISBN 3-923657-05-6
Record label Columbia Records Genre Blues & Roots Time Out (album) Watts (Los Angeles) Shadows (1959 film) Little Rock Nine Down Beat JazzTimes
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