1972 · Album
Let My Children Hear Music
Recorded 1972 · Columbia Records · Produced by Teo Macero
Mingus Conducts His Largest Vision
Mingus himself called it the best album he ever made—and he had good reasons.
Charles Mingus spent most of his career fighting against the limitations of small groups and limited budgets. By 1972, with Let My Children Hear Music, he finally had the resources to write for a large jazz orchestra exactly the way he wanted. Teo Macero produced the album, and Mingus worked closely with arrangers Sy Johnson and Alan Raph to translate his ambitious compositions into orchestral sound. This is not the intimate, confrontational Mingus of his small-group recordings. This is Mingus thinking in sweeping sections and complex harmonies, writing for brass and woodwinds the way a symphonic composer would.
The album shows what Mingus could do when given space and resources. The orchestrations are dense but never cluttered—Johnson and Raph knew how to voice his ideas without drowning them out. There's a formality here that might surprise listeners expecting the raw energy of his earlier work, but that formality serves the music. Some tracks expand into genuine miniature symphonies. Others strip back to show his still-fierce bass playing and the arrangements' underlying architecture. The results are uneven—some pieces feel more successful than others—but the ambition is never in question.
If you know Mingus only from his small-group records or his most famous compositions, this album can feel like a different artist entirely. It's not his most essential work, and it's definitely not the best entry point into his music. But for anyone who's heard his earlier albums and wants to see what he could accomplish with a full orchestra at his disposal, this matters. It's the album Mingus believed in most, made late in his career when he'd earned the leverage to realize his largest ideas.
Who's playing
Ron Carterdouble bass
Richard Davisdouble bass
Homer Denchdouble bass
Milt Hintondouble bass
Charles Mingusdouble bass
John Fosterpiano
“Sir” Roland Hannapiano
Teo Maceroalto saxophone
Lonnie Hillyertrumpet
Jimmy Nottinghamtrumpet
Joe Wildertrumpet
Snookie Youngtrumpet
Snooky Youngtrumpet
Eddie Berttrombone
Urbie Greentrombone
Jimmy Kneppertrombone
Dannie Richmonddrums
Danny Banksreeds
Jerry Dodgionreeds
Bobby Jonesreeds
Charles McCrackencello
Hal McKusickreeds
Charles McPhersonreeds
James Moodyreeds
Julius WatkinsFrench horn
Where next?
More by Charles Mingus
Ah Um 1959
Mingus Ah Um 1959
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady 1963
The Black Saint and the Sinner 1963
The musicians on this record
Uptown Conversation 1969
Ron Carter
plays double bass here
plays double bass here
Today's Man 1973
Charles McPherson
plays reeds here
plays reeds here
