Charles Mingus

• COLLECTOR'S DIGIPACK SERIES

• 3-PANEL DIGIPACK

• INCLUDES 4 BONUS TRACKS

• 5 STARS DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE

By the mid-50s, Charles Mingus had formed his own publishing and recording companies to protect and document his growing repertoire of original music. He also founded the “Jazz Workshop,” a group which enabled young composers to have their new works performed in concert and on recordings. One of those albums was Mingus Ah Um (Columbia CS-8171), presented here in its entirety along with all of the other tunes from the sessions and an alternate take of “Bird Calls.” An extremely personal work, Mingus Ah Um once again showcased Mingus’ unique talent for breaking new ground. It features an all-star group including Jimmy Knepper, John Handy, Booker Ervin and Curtis Porter (aka Shafi Hadi), and marked Mingus’ first LP for Columbia.

PERSONNEL:

• CHARLES MINGUS, bass & leader
• JIMMY KNEPPER or WILLIE DENNIS, trombone
• BOOKER ERVIN, tenor sax
• CURTIS PORTER, alto & tenor sax
• JOHN HANDY, alto & tenor sax, clarinet
• HORACE PARLAN, piano
• DANNIE RICHMOND, drums

Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York, May 5 & 12, 1959.

TRACKS:

• 01 Better Git It in Your Soul
• 02 Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
• 03 Boogie Stop Shuffle
• 04 Self-Portrait in Three Colors
• 05 Open Letter to Duke
• 06 Bird Calls
• 07 Fables of Faubus
• 08 Pussy Cat Dues
• 09 Jelly Roll
• 10 Pedal Point Blues (*)
• 11 GG Train (*)
• 12 Girl of My Dreams (*)
• 13 Bird Calls [alt tk] (*)

• TOTAL TIME: 77:56 Min.
• (*) Bonus tracks: From the same sessions, but not issued on the original LP.