Mingus Centennial Honored with “Deluxe” Reissue

courtesy of Play MPE

This past Friday (April 22), when I wrote about the forthcoming release of Mingus: The Lost Album from Ronnie Scott’s, I forgot to mention that I was writing about Charles Mingus on the 100th anniversary of his birth! That date also marked a release by Rhino/Parlophone of a new “deluxe edition” of Mingus Three, the 1957 recording of the trio that bassist Mingus formed with pianist Hampton Hawes and drummer Danny Richmond. The original release featured two Mingus originals, “Back Home Blues” and “Dizzy Moods,” coupled for four standards (“Yesterdays,” “I Can’t Get Started,” “Summertime,” and “Laura”), along with a four-minute jam entitled “Hamp’s New Blues.”

The “deluxe” release includes alternate takes of all of these tracks except the one for “Laura." It also includes two additional tracks, two takes identified only as “Untitled Blues,” the second about half as long as the first. That makes for about an hour and a quarter of highly imaginative jamming by all three members of the trio.

The album is being released on both vinyl and CD with a booklet with both photographs and updated liner notes. Sadly, the Amazon release of the MP3 version does not include that booklet. For attentive listeners, however, each of the fifteen tracks on this release speaks for itself with more than sufficient clarity. Those familiar with Mingus’ biography know that he could be difficult (and sometimes downright violent) during recording sessions. In this case, however, all of the tracks were recorded on July 9, 1957; and no undercurrents of hostility ever seem to emerge. When it comes to inventive interpretation and improvisations, this was a gathering of equals all sharing mutual respect; and the result is a spontaneity in performance that is consistently satisfying from beginning to end.