1957 Archive

The Clown – The Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop – Atlantic 1260 (1957)/ Warner Bros./ Speakers Corner

by Audiophile Audition | Nov 15, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

This is a lovely remastering of one of Mingus’ best albums – his 1957 mono release. The Clown – The Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop – Atlantic 1260 (1957)/ Warner Bros./ Speakers Corner – mono vinyl [11/4/6] *****: (Charles Mingus, doublebass/ Curtis Porter, alto & tenor sax/ Jimmy Kneeper, trombone/ Wade Legge, piano/Donnie Richmond, drums) These four tracks were all composed and performed by the amazing bassist Mingus, and have been reissued on various poor discs (some with terrible cover art), so it is wonderful to finally have this Mingus masterpiece in a really good version that preserves everything that happened in that studio in March of 1957.  The original packaging includes detailed notes on the back by Nat Hentoff. He spends a lot time on the volatile personality of Mingus.  Mingus said, “Just because I’m playing jazz, I don’t forget about me…My music is alive and it’s about the living and the dead, about good and evil. It’s angry, yet it’s real because it knows it’s angry.” The folk spirit of “Haitian Fight Song” open the first side. It also has a bit of the old black church in it. “Blue Cee” is a standard blues which Mingus feels has […]