1964 · Album
Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus
Recorded 1959 · Columbia Records · Produced by Teo Macero
Mingus Painting in Five Shades of Himself
Five versions of the same piece show you how Mingus thought about composition as a living, breathing argument.
The title tells you something important: this album is not about variety. Charles Mingus Jr. took one composition, "Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus," and recorded it five different ways. Most bandleaders would call that redundant. Mingus called it exploration. Each take lets you hear how the same melody, harmony, and structure can become completely different things depending on who's playing it, how they approach it, and what mood the room is in. That's the whole philosophy compressed into one album.
This sits in the middle of Mingus's catalog — after Pithecanthropus Erectus (1956) and Mingus Ah Um (1959), so he's already proven himself as a composer and bandleader who can do bebop, avant-garde, and everything between. By this point he's stopped trying to convince anyone he matters. The five versions here range from relatively straightforward to pretty wild, and none of them feel like he's chasing something he missed the first time. Instead it feels like he's saying: you want to understand how I write? Watch what happens when the variables change. The rhythm section tightens up here. The horns get looser there. Suddenly the piece becomes something else entirely. It's less album, more object lesson.
This is not the place to start with Mingus — Mingus Ah Um is more rewarding on first listen. But if you've spent time with his work and want to see how his mind actually operated, this is worth the time. It's stubborn and specific, the kind of thing only Mingus would think to record. Not a masterpiece, but genuinely interesting.
Who's playing
Charles Mingusdouble bass
Jaki Byardpiano
Jay Berlinerguitar
Eric Dolphyalto saxophone, flute
Booker Ervintenor saxophone
Dick Hafertenor saxophone
Jerome Richardsonsoprano saxophone
Charlie Marianoalto saxophone
Eddie Prestontrumpet
Richard Williamstrumpet
Rolf Ericsontrumpet
Britt Woodmantrombone
Quentin Jacksontrombone
Walter Perkinsdrums
Dannie Richmonddrums
Don Butterfieldtuba
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
Out to Lunch 1964
Eric Dolphy
plays alto saxophone here
plays alto saxophone here
The Freedom Book 1963
Booker Ervin
plays tenor saxophone here
plays tenor saxophone here
Parisian Solos 1971
Jaki Byard
plays piano here
plays piano here
