Search - Charles Mingus :: His Final Work

Pretty boring for being Mingus

guran | Sweden | 03/02/2001

(2 out of 5 stars)

"For being a Mingus album I'd say it's pretty boring. It's not a bad album, but it lacks the edge, the attitude, the wildness of records like "Ah Um", "Blues & Roots" and "Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus". You can clearly hear that this is Mingus' compositions and arrangements, there are some decent solos too, but it just doesn't have the... the... soul, go and joyful wild attitude that, to me, is what Charles Mingus is about. It feels a bit like "Mingus goes easy listening" or something... Way to clean and sort of laid back for my liking!I'm not a jazz expert in any way, but Mingus is the one who brought me in to it, and this is not the Mingus I learned to know. That doesn't have to mean that this is a poor album, but I just can't recommend it, at least not if you're after something representative. For those of you who already owns the majority of his albums; Well, you might give it a try..."

Not His Final Work

Tim Jacoby | 09/28/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"While this September 6, 1977 recording is billed as his last, Mingus released two more recordings on Atlantic before his death on January 5, 1979: Something Like a Bird, recorded in NYC on January 18th and 23rd, 1978, and Me, Myself, an Eye, recorded in NYC on Jaunuary 19th and 23rd, 1978. They are available on a two disc edition here on Amazon.



This recording, with Lionel Hampton, Gerry Mulligan, Woody Shaw, Dannie Richmond and others, covers a broad range of well-known material, including Peggy's Blue Skylight, So Long Eric, Slop, Fables of Faubus, and others. While these songs have made numerous appearances with different versions of his bands, the performances here are suprisingly different in tone and approach. Calling it "easy listening" as the above reviewer does not describe the music here in any meaninful way, but I'm as much at a loss to explain the departure, other than to say it lacks the seriousness, sobriety, and solemnity one comes to expect with Mingus. I was surprised to hear the emotion this recording captures, or at least my emotional reaction to it: while I am not as fascinated with the performances as I am with some others, this seems to be Mingus and co making music FUN. Love it, hate it, or leave scratching your head, you've never heard Mingus like this before, and for that reason I recommend it."