Search - Charles Mingus :: Epitaph

Charles Mingus was a f-----g genius and HE LIVES here.

unreconstructedrebel | Glendale CA USA | 05/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Was at the 1962 Town Hall concert when he first let us hear some of this...in between walk outs where he just stormed out and an hour or so later came back...and no one in the audience left for all those hours. If we're smart, we give genius whatever room it needs since there's so little of it around in anyone's lifetime. Much of this great man of music is caught by another great musician/musicologist Gunter Schiller and a few good men like Wynton Marsalis and many other 'notables' who woulda given their year's pay just to be there...playing at this tribute...and here he is again...not 'back from the dead'..but proving he never died. Charles Mingus will always live. This 'Epitaph' title is about as serious a title as his 'Eat That Chicken' and he woulda laughed at it. 'Epitaph my a-s' he probably said..through all that thunder and lightening that struck over Wolf Trap the first time this great reconstructed collection was played in public...with his wife in the audience hearing both the thunder in the music and the thunder in the sky... knowing it was all from the same source. Buy this...listen to it..then get mingusmingusmingus and OH YEAH..and he'll live in you too. Play it all for your friends...and your kids. They'll all play it for their friends and their kids...they'll write their own reviews...and on he lives."

Monumental compositions by a jazz giant

madamemusico | Cincinnati, Ohio USA | 08/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first time I heard this music, I knew it was something special, out of the ordinary. These are the great compositions that Mingus left after his death to be played as his "epitaph," and they are complex and challenging to the listener.



Gunther Schuller does a superb job of conducting this complex score and capturing a true Mingus feeling despite the leader's unavoidable absence. If you compare the original Town Hall performances of these works, conducted by Mingus himself, to these recreations, you will be amazed by how similar they are in feel, tempo and texture, though these are recorded digitally.



"Epitaph" is more than a collection of pieces, it is a massive concert score in its own right. I strongly recommend that, if you are new to Mingus, that you move into this set slowly by sampling some of his own earlier recordings, but I guarantee that you won't be disappointed."

Not noise, pure genius!

Jesse Hubbard | Kentucky USA | 12/13/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Charles Mingus was a musical genius and the best composer to come out of this country. People need to stop listening to music with blinders on. If you thought this was just noise I really feel sorrow that you could not see the passion, emotion, and beauty that made Mingus who he was!"