Mingus was never one to shy from a bad pun. Bully for him.
The source here is, of course, Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Prelude in C-sharp minor", the immediately recognisable piano riff (played by Max/Mal Waldron) in the opening and sprinkled throughout. It's combined with a fairly straightforward bop take on a Hammerstein-Kern standard called "All the Things You Are". Hence the title: was Mingus the father of the mash-up? The tune proceeds with the usual take-a-number solo format highlighted by a calm, confident bass solo from the man himself. Hardly an essential performance, perhaps, but find another jazz tune built around a late-romantic classical piece. Thought so.
The tune was originally released on a 1956 LP entitled Chazz (itself a truncated version of Mingus at the Bohemia) and later combined with the rest of that album and a companion album from the same session called Mingus Quintet Plus Max Roach (that's Roach on drums here and throughout most of both albums). The resulting double LP set is one of several simply titled Charles Mingus in Mingus's convoluted catalog. I picked it up on the same buying jaunt as Three or Four Shades. Price: Fr50. Again, about ten bucks.
From my deck to you: Charles Mingus - "All the Things You Can C Sharp"
1 comment:
Hi! I would like to know what C. Mingus says after "This next tune is based in two things..." in the alternate take of All The Things You See Sharp from the reissue of Mingus at The Bohemia.
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