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Original Album Classics (Mingus Ah Um/Mingus Dynasty/Tijuana Moods)(3CD set with bonus tracks)

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A trio of perfect Mingus albums – in a great 3CD set from Columbia UK! Mingus Ah Um is One of his true classics – and an essential album in any jazz collection! It was recorded at a key point in his career – when he was rising from the jazz underground into the ranks of America's elite jazzmen, penning some of the most challenging work of his career, and working with incredible younger players that interpreted his work with a great deal of fire! The tracks are a bit more tightly arranged than work on some of Mingus' previous work for labels like Atlantic and Bethlehem, but that also gives them a razor-sharp emotional edge that's carried off perfectly by players who include John Handy and Shafi Hadi on alto saxes, Booker Ervin on tenor, Willie Dennis and Jimmy Knepper on trombones, Horace Parlan on piano, and Dannie Richmond on drums. Includes "Better Git It In Your Soul", "Boogie Stop Shuffle", "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", and "Fables of Faubus" – plus "Self Portrait In Three Colors", "Open Letter To Duke", and "Bird Calls". CD features 3 rare bonus tracks: "Train", "Girl Of My Dreams", and an alternate version of "Bird Calls". Mingus Dynasty is also brilliant – and the group features some of Mingus' best sidemen like Booker Ervin, Jimmy Knepper, John Handy, and Roland Hanna – and the tracks have that wild mix of emotion, tight composition, and freewheeling soloing that made Mingus' late 50's output so compelling! Includes "Diane", "Song With Orange", "Gunslinging Bird", and "Far Wells, Mill Valley". Plus the CD includes the bonus track "Strollin" and unedited versions of "Slop", "Song With Orange", "Gunslinging Bird", and "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" – all of which were originallly shaved down for release on the original album. Last up is Tijuana Moods – and we think it may well be the best album ever from Charles Mingus! The set was recorded in that magical Mingus year of 1957, but oddly not released until 1962 – missing some of the initial frenzy of his discovery during the Atlantic and Columbia years. But the album's actually a treasure that predates the better-known latter sides – with a sharpness and intensity that Mingus hardly ever matched again! The group is one of his strongest ever – with Shafi Hadi on alto, Clarence Shaw on trumpet, Jimmy Knepper on trombone, and Bill Triglia on piano. There's a slight Latin vibe, as you might expect from the title – but it's very slight overall, and most of the tunes are in that sharply angular, fully expressive style that flowered most strongly for Mingus in the late 50s. There's not a wasted moment of music on the whole album – with tight solos and incredible rhythms that dominate every second of the extended tracks – and titles include "Dizzy Moods", "Flamingo", "Los Mariachis", "Ysabel's Tabel Dance", and "Tijuana Gift Shop". CD also features the amazing bonus track "A Colloquial Dream". Each CD comes in a paper LP style sleeve, too!  © 1996-2013, Dusty Groove, Inc.