Mingus Dynasty (Remaster) (CD)

Charles Mingus poured the full weight of his experience into everything he played. He was a powerful virtuoso on bass, and as a composer he drew on the whole history of jazz to produce works of trenchant beauty. Above all, he was an artist whose uncompromising spirit invited both controversy and adulation. In the '40s and '50s he worked as bassist for everyone from Kid Ory and Louis Armstrong to Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk. Mingus began recording as a leader in the early '50s, and by the end of the decade he was at the peak of his powers as bandleader, arranger, and composer. He incorporated the influence of gospel, blues, and European classical composers into a big-band jazz format, crafting an innovative, completely unique sound. Mingus died of Lou Gehrig's Disease in 1978, but his mark on subsequent musical generations is indelible.

• Category:  Music  »  Jazz  »  Bass
• Format: CD   Learn more about the CD format using Tower WIKI.
• Release Date: February 16, 1999
• Label: Legacy Recordings
• UPC: 074646551325
• WAPI (Tower ID): 106693435
• Average Customer Review: There are no customer reviews yet. Be the first to write a review!
• Tower.com Sales Rank: #26568 in Music (See Top 100 Music Bestsellers)
• #1735 in Jazz (See Top 100 Jazz Bestsellers)
• #34 in Bass (See Top 100 Bass Bestsellers)

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This remastered edition of MINGUS DYNASTY features four of the original tracks in unedited form and a bonus track.

Personnel: Charles Mingus (bass); Booker Ervin, John Handy, Benny Golson (saxophones); Jerome Richardson (saxophone, flute); Donald Ellis, Dick Williams (trumpets); James Knepper (trombone); Maurice Brown, Seymour Barab (cello); Theodore Cohen (vibraphone); Roland Hanna (piano); Dannie Richmond (drums).

Reissue producer: John Snyder.

Recorded in New York on November 1 and 13, 1959. Includes liner notes by Brian Priestley.

All tracks have been digitally remastered using 20-bit technology.

This is part of the Columbia Jazz Masterpieces series.

For the legendary bass virtuoso and composer Charles Mingus, 1959 was a watershed year. On the two November sessions which comprise MINGUS DYNASTY, the bassist achieved a rare balance between the excitement of spontaneous invention, and the controlled intensity of carefully crafted group forms.

MINGUS DYNASTY appears on CD for the first time with all of Mingus' post-performance edits intact. Mingus the jazz composer had an abiding affection for traditional forms, such as gospel and Dixieland, and a deep devotion to the innovations of modernists Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker. Thus you have the sanctified celebration of "Slop," the earthy blues of "Put Me In That Dungeon," and the firey drive of "Gunslinging Bird," where church rhythms, blues feeling and jazz harmony co-mingle in a swelter of powerful solos and colorful ensemble passages.

Mingus' affection for the music of Ellington is plainly evident in inspired covers of Mercer Ellington's "Things Ain't What They Used To Be" (with fine idiomatic solos by trombonist Jimmy Knepper, tenorist Booker Ervin and Mingus) and an atmospheric "Mood Indigo," in which Mingus modulates tempos and moods every bit as effectively as he traverses chord changes. Likewise the bassist's own "Diane," "Song With Orange" and "Far Wells, Mill Valley," where his charts evidence an affection both for 20th century classicism and ancient blues. And the incredibly swinging rhythm section of bassist Mingus, drummer Dannie Richmond and pianist Roland Hanna make MINGUS DYNASTY a timeless recording.

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