Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um (2LP, 45RPM, Box set, 1STEP, SuperVinyl)
ORDER LIMITED TO ONE ITEM PER CUSTOMER
Charles Mingus, bass, piano [click here to see more vinyl featuring Charles Mingus]
John Handy, alto & tenor sax, clarinet
Booker Ervin, tenor sax [click here to see more vinyl featuring Booker Ervin]
Shafi Hadi, tenor & alto sax
Willie Dennis, trombone (A2 to B3)
Jimmy Knepper, trombone (A1, C1 to D2)
Horace Parlan, piano
Dannie Richmond, drums
2 LPs, Box set
Limited to 6,000 numbered copies
Original analog Master tape : YES
UltraDisc One-Step (UDS1)
Heavy Press : 180g SuperVinyl
Record color : black
Speed : 45 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : RTI
Label : MOFI
Original Label : Columbia
Recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York City on May 5, 1959 & May 12, 1959
Produced by Teo Macero
Remastered by Krieg Wunderlich
Originally released in 1959
Reissued in 2020
Tracks:
Side A:
- Better Git It In Your Soul
- Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
Side B:
- Boogie Stop Shuffle
- Self-Portrait In Three Colors
- Open Letter To Duke
Side C:
- Bird Calls
- Fables Of Faubus
Side D:
- Pussy Cat Dues
- Jelly Roll
Awards:
The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013
Rolling Stone Greatest Albums of All Time - Ranked 380
TAS Super LP List! Special Merit: Informal
Reviews:
“Charles Mingus' debut for Columbia, Mingus Ah Um is a stunning summation of the bassist's talents and probably the best reference point for beginners. While there's also a strong case for The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady as his best work overall, it lacks Ah Um's immediate accessibility and brilliantly sculpted individual tunes. Mingus' compositions and arrangements were always extremely focused, assimilating individual spontaneity into a firm consistency of mood, and that approach reaches an ultra-tight zenith on Mingus Ah Um. The band includes longtime Mingus stalwarts already well versed in his music, like saxophonists John Handy, Shafi Hadi, and Booker Ervin; trombonists Jimmy Knepper and Willie Dennis; pianist Horace Parlan; and drummer Dannie Richmond. Their razor-sharp performances tie together what may well be Mingus' greatest, most emotionally varied set of compositions. At least three became instant classics, starting with the irrepressible spiritual exuberance of signature tune "Better Get It in Your Soul," taken in a hard-charging 6/8 and punctuated by joyous gospel shouts. "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" is a slow, graceful elegy for Lester Young, who died not long before the sessions. The sharply contrasting "Fables of Faubus" is a savage mockery of segregationist Arkansas governor Orval Faubus, portrayed musically as a bumbling vaudeville clown (the scathing lyrics, censored by skittish executives, can be heard on Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus). The underrated "Boogie Stop Shuffle" is bursting with aggressive swing, and elsewhere there are tributes to Mingus' most revered influences: "Open Letter to Duke" is inspired by Duke Ellington and "Jelly Roll" is an idiosyncratic yet affectionate nod to jazz's first great composer, Jelly Roll Morton. It simply isn't possible to single out one Mingus album as definitive, but Mingus Ah Um comes the closest.” AllMusic Review by Steve Huey
"At a memorial following Mingus' death, Steve Schlesinger of the Guggenheim Foundation commented that Mingus was one of the few artists who received two grants and added: 'I look forward to the day when we can transcend labels like jazz and acknowledge Charles Mingus as the major American composer that he is.' The New Yorker wrote: 'For sheer melodic and rhythmic and structural originality, his compositions may equal anything written in western music in the twentieth century.'" All About Jazz
UltraDisc One-Step : Instead of utilizing the industry-standard three-step lacquer process, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's new UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) uses only one step, bypassing two processes of generational loss. While three-step processing is designed for optimum yield and efficiency, UD1S is created for the ultimate in sound quality. Just as Mobile Fidelity pioneered the UHQR (Ultra High-Quality Record) with JVC in the 1980s, UD1S again represents another state-of-the-art advance in the record-manufacturing process. MFSL engineers begin with the original master tapes and meticulously cut a set of lacquers. These lacquers are used to create a very fragile, pristine UD1S stamper called a "convert." Delicate "converts" are then formed into the actual record stampers, producing a final product that literally and figuratively brings you closer to the music. By skipping the additional steps of pulling another positive and an additional negative, as done in the three-step process used in standard pressings, UD1S produces a final LP with the lowest noise floor possible today. The removal of the additional two steps of generational loss in the plating process reveals tremendous amounts of extra musical detail and dynamics, which are otherwise lost due to the standard copying process. The exclusive nature of these very limited pressings guarantees that every UD1S pressing serves as an immaculate replica of the lacquer sourced directly from the original master tape. Every conceivable aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the most perfect record album available today.
MoFi SuperVinyl: The World's Quietest Surfaces and Cleanest Grooves: Developed by NEOTECH and RTI, MoFi SuperVinyl is the most exacting-to-specification vinyl compound ever created. Analog lovers have never seen (or heard) anything like it. Extraordinarily expensive and extremely painstaking to produce, the special proprietary compound addresses two specific areas of improvement: noise floor reduction and enhanced groove definition. The vinyl composition features a new carbonless dye (hold the disc up to the light and see) and produces the world's quietest surfaces. This high-definition formula also allows for the creation of cleaner grooves that are indistinguishable from the original lacquer. MoFi SuperVinyl provides the closest approximation of what the label's engineers hear in the mastering lab.
Ratings :
AllMusic : 5 / 5 , Discogs : 4,64 / 5