Search - Charles Mingus :: Blues & Roots

Charles Mingus: Blues & Roots

Matt | 05/19/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For as long as I've known about Charles Mingus, I've felt that he was sort of the Captain Beefheart of Jazz. If that assessment is correct, then Blues and Roots must be Mingus' Safe As Milk. It's his attempt to play the music at the roots of his tradition (jazz), but he is literally unable to play it straight; he's too restlessly inventive for that. He has no choice but to put his own unique, wild, hard-edged spin on things. Which makes them all the better. If straight, swingin', big band jazz is what you want, you shouldn't be looking at Mingus -- for that, check out Ellington, Bassie, or Armstrong. But if you want to hear an enjoyably modern and wacky take on the Gospel/Swing/Ragtime/Dixieland roots of jazz, then you're looking at the right album. Sure, hardcore Mingus fans will complain that this album is not avant-garde enough. Fans of rock and roll or pre-war jazz will probably think it's *too* avant-garde. But the lucky few who can put aside their expectations and just listen will be amply rewarded.



By the way, although I haven't heard the unremastered version and therefore cannot make comparisons regarding sound quality, it's well worth the extra couple of dollars to get the four bonus tracks of the remastered version. The "Old Jelly Roll Soul" outtake - a full 11 minutes long, more than double length of the original album version - is a highlight of the whole CD, not just of the bonus tracks."

Mingus is the man!

finulanu | Here, there, and everywhere | 03/29/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's bluesy! It's rootsy! It's pretty damn good! This isn't a terribly groundbreaking set, but it is a powerful fusion of blues, gospel, and jazz idioms. It swings when it needs to (the good-time New Orleans tribute "My Jelly Roll Soul"), it's tough ("Tensions"), it's bluesy and sad sometimes ("Cryin' Blues", with an appropriately emotive sax part), and moves like a runaway freight train at others ("Moanin'", Mingus at his most explosive). "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting" is one of Mingus' most famous compositions, and justly so - it has all the fervor and grit of a church revival meeting, and all the spontaneity of a jazz classic. There's even more spontaneity on "E's Flat Ah's Flat Too", a characteristically wild rampage that has two different melodies playing at once. And, for a "roots" album, it's varied - Mingus explores every avenue of what was at the time considered "roots" music, from blues ("Cryin' Blues") to gospel ("Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting") to old-fashioned jazz ("My Jelly Roll Soul", which would be remade on the next album as "Jelly Roll"). The clincher is the fantastic playing (most of the Ah Um band was held over from this release), including several illuminating solos from Mingus himself. The only downside is that, well, there are about a half-dozen other Mingus albums that also explore blues and roots. But so what? If I've eaten a half-dozen raspberries that all tasted great (as raspberries usually do), I'd be all for another of the same quality!"