Charles Mingus

• 5 STARS ALL MUSIC GUIDE

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is one of the greatest achievements in orchestration by any composer in jazz history. Charles Mingus consciously designed the six-part ballet as his magnum opus, and -- implied in his famous inclusion of liner notes by his psychologist -- it's as much an examination of his own tortured psyche as it is a conceptual piece about love and struggle. It veers between so many emotions that it defies easy encapsulation; for that matter, it can be difficult just to assimilate in the first place. Yet the work soon reveals itself as a masterpiece of rich, multi-layered texture and swirling tonal colors, manipulated with a painter's attention to detail.

PERSONNEL:

• CHARLIE MARIANO, alto saxophone
• CHARLES MINGUS, piano
• DANNIE RICHMOND, drums
• JAY BERLINER, guitar
• JAKI BYARD, piano
• JEREMOE RICHARDSON, soprano & baritone sax
• DICK HAFER, tenor sax, flute
• QUENTIN JACKSON, trombone
• RICHARD WILLIAMS, ROLF ERICSON, trumpet
• DON BUTTERFIELD, tuba

New York, January 20, 1963

TRACKS:

• SIDE A:
• 01."Track A — Solo Dancer"
• Stop! Look! and Listen, Sinner Jim Whitney!
• 02. "Track B — Duet Solo Dancers"
• Hearts' Beat and Shades in Physical Embraces
• 03. "Track C — Group Dancers"
• (Soul Fusion) Freewoman and Oh, This Freedom's Slave Cries

• SIDE B:
• 01. "Mode D — Trio and Group Dancers"
• Stop! Look! and Sing Songs of Revolutions!
• 02. "Mode E — Single Solos and Group Dance"
• Saint and Sinner Join in Merriment on Battle Front
• 03. "Mode F — Group and Solo Dance"
• Of Love, Pain, and Passioned Revolt, then Farewell, My Beloved, 'til It's Freedom Day