Charles Mingus – Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus

“The album features the two sides of Mingus’ compositional genius: the beautiful balladry that I always feel has a bit of a film-noir feel to it, alongside those joyous upbeat numbers that are filled with an organized chaos that categorizes much of the bassist’s best work. … Throw in the fact that it also features Jaki Byard (who is just phenomenal on this recording and remains criminally underrated), Booker Ervin, Dannie Richmond and Eric Dolphy and you have some of Mingus’ finest sidemen driving his compositions to the fantastical places they seemed preordained to go. … Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus is a record that has more than stood the test of time and is an everlasting testament to the talents of Mingus and the players who had the ability to follow his musical vision.” — The Jazz Record

Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus was Charles Mingus’ last major studio recording of the 1960s (the solo Mingus Plays Piano would also be released the same year in 1964) and it’s a real treasure in the great jazz bassist’s discography

Two of the tracks (“Celia” and “I X Love”) were recorded at the sessions for The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady, while the rest were laid down eight months later with a group that included Booker Ervin, Eric Dolphy and Jaki Byard (Byard also played on the two earlier tracks). Both sessions featured groups of 11 players, all of whom were in top form in performing Mingus’ notoriously complex compositions, writes jazzrecord.com.

All but two tracks on Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus were re-interpretations of songs from the bassist’s earlier catalog, only “Celia” rates as a new original number, and “Mood Indigo” is a cover of the famous tune by Mingus’s hero Duke Ellington. If you happen to have lost your Mingus decoder ring, the remaining tracks correlate to their past counterparts as such:

“II B.S.” = “Haitian Fight Song”
“I X Love” = “Nouroog”
“Better Get Hit In Yo’ Soul” = “Better Git It In Yo’ Soul”
“Theme For Lester Young” = “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”
“Hora Decubitus” = “E’s Flat Ah’s Flat Too”

For Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus Mingus collaborated with arranger/orchestrator Bob Hammer to score the music for the large ensemble of brass and saxophones. Recorded January 20 and September 20, 1963 in New York City.

Musicians:

On A2 & A3:
Charles Mingus – Bass, Piano
Jerome Richardson – Baritone Sax, Soprano Sax, Flute
Dick Hafer – Tenor Sax, Flute
Charlie Mariano – Alto Sax
Rolf Ericson – Trumpet
Richard Williams – Trumpet
Quentin Jackson – Trombone
Don Butterfield – Contrabass Trombone, Tuba
Jay Berliner – Guitar
Jaki Byard – Piano
Dannie Richmond – Drums

On A2, A4, B1, B2, & B3
Charles Mingus – Bass
Dick Hafer – Tenor Sax, Flute, Clarinet
Jerome Richardson – Baritone Sax, Soprano Sax, Flute
Booker Ervin – Tenor Sax
Eric Dolphy – Alto Sax, Flute
Eddie Preston – Trumpet
Richard Williams – Trumpet
Britt Woodman – Trombone
Don Butterfield – Tuba
Jaki Byard – Piano
Walter Perkins – Drums