Search - Charles Mingus :: This Is Jazz 6

The bass slinger

Sean K Hur | New Brunswick, NJ | 04/21/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"ALright, you jazz fans... Here's a good start into the intense world of mingus music. When you listen to the first track you see a great WALL of blaring trombones, saxes, and that POUNDING bass hit you... "Better Git It in Your Soul," is a different version on Columbia than on some other labels, but this slighter slower rendition than I've heard is no less beautiful. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, is his tribute to the late Lester Young, and its sax melody is pure melancholy... sweet. Mingus has a great dynamic writing... where Self-Portrait in Three Colors gives you that REALLY nice intimate jazz sound... the saxaphone really carries the melodies very well. Now, Charles Mingus is usually labelled as a jazz musician, but everyone must hear "The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife are Some Jive Ass Slippers." For the title at least, but this number blurs the distinction of classical music and jazz, (Thick ochestrated sound, revealing the early classical influence of mingus) All in all, one of the best starting albums to get in Mingus, it ranks up there with the Priceless Jazz recording album of Mingus' music. Highly recommended."

A Little Mingus

J. J. Lehmann | St. Paul, MN | 02/09/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am not an expert on Jazz, though I have been a listener for years. I am not rich, so when I spend my money, I prefer it to be worthwhile. I know enough about Jazz to understand that this compilation is not all-encompassing, but not enough to be able to go into a music store and buy a Charles Mingus CD (or, any other artist I am not familiar with). I bought my first This is Jazz cd a few years back and have found them to be a good intro to artists I was not familiar with before. The songs are taken from several moments in his career. The further listening section, sets you up to further explore Charles Mingus.

Now that the 'This Is Jazz' cd collection is no longer made, one can find them really cheap, most, if not all, under $5. Try it, see if you like it, if not it was only a few buck."