Track Listing

1. Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting
2. Cryin' Blues
3. Moanin'
4. Tensions
5. My Jelly Roll Soul
6. E's Flat Ah's Flat Too

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29319 in Music
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com essential recording
Bassist Charles Mingus was always ready for a good fight. In the liner notes to this disc, Mingus says he wanted to respond to critics who said he didn't swing enough. And reply he did. Mingus gave whoever these absurd quibblers were some of the most ecstatic blues ("Moanin'" and "Cryin Blues"), gospel ("Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting"), and Dixieland ("My Jelly Roll Soul") the jazz world has ever heard. Along with his striking original compositions, the instrumental combination in Mingus's nonet remains unconventional: the frontline included four saxophonists and two trombonists without the counterweight of a trumpeter. The leader's sliding-octave bass lines and percussive slaps are totally rollicking, and the wild abandon in the group's playing is irrepressible. --Aaron Cohen

From Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD
As bassist, pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and modern jazz mahatma, Charles Mingus had plenary control of all the expressive devices needed to manifest blues cries from the soul. The gospel blues 'Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting" and five more numbers on this famous 1959 release have his ten musicians' spontaneous phrases in perfect balance with his ingenious compositional turns. -- © Frank John Hadley 1993

Customer Reviews

Mingus� Bass and Compositions Shine
This album is similar in feeling to the great "Mingus Ah Um." Overall, it highlights Mingus' blues/gospel influences. "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting," (5:39) for example, in the tradition of songs like "Better Git It Into Your Soul"("Mingus Ah Um") and "Slop ("Mingus Dynasty")." Unfortunately, this driving piece is flawed by (the otherwise-excellent) Horace Parlan's repetitive piano--for a few seconds it seemed like the CD was stuck. The song is rooted in a deep mix of trombone (Willie Dennis), tenor sax (the amazing Booker Ervin), and bass, and punctuated by Mingus' trademark shouts.

"Cryin' Blues is also steeped in Mingus' bass (excellent solo work and well-recorded) and the soulful anchor of Pepper Adams' baritone sax. Parlan lays down some bluesy riffs and Jackie McLean leads the way home with his solo on this five-minute cut. "Moanin'" (7:57) and "Tensions" (6:27) are blues-oriented pieces, dominated by Mingus' intense, virtuoso bass, a strong solo by Ervin, and fiery ensemble playing.

"My Jelly Roll Soul" (6:47) is a light, zesty, and almost tongue-in-cheek cut inspired by early jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton. Dannie Richmond lays down some brushwork and other flourishes. "E's Flat Ah's Flat Too (6:37) is kind of an amalgamation of the previous cuts, with Mal Waldron taking over on piano. Mingus' compositions and bass playing are the highlights here There's not quite as much solo work by the other musicians compared to other Mingus albums, although there's enough to keep things lively and interesting. I don't have the original CD, but I didn't notice anything exceptional about the remastering except to note that Mingus is recorded very well. I mention this only because there's another slightly more expensive "Blues and Roots" available at Amazon. (See Amazon CD: Wea/Atlantic/Rhino; ASIN: B00000348B. There is no mention of remastering but there are five alternate takes.) Mingus notes that he taught the compositions to the group by ear rather than as written music, "so they'd play the compositional parts with as much spontaneity and soul as they'd play a solo." He and the ensemble obviously succeed. "Ah Um" is probably the better CD, but this is very much worth having.

Blues and Roots: A boiling cauldron of soul
Technically difficult music that drips with rhythm and soul - The ultimate jazz album? You betcha! Similiar to Ah Um, this record stands the test of 100s of listenings because of its amazing musicianship and beautifully-complex compositions. On every song it seems, you hear one perfect, funky line by one instrument, which is then combined with another completely different melody by another...and another and another, until you have 10 players soloing over each other without stepping on toes. Its a prayer meetin' with brains! The extra tracks are great, but are in mono (good quality mono though). Buy this now!

Vintage Mingus
While this isn't quite in the front rank of Mingus albums--_Mingus Ah Um_, recorded with a similarly-constituted band for Columbia, is a much more ambitious & wide-ranging album--_Blues & Roots_ is nonetheless a characteristically powerful & tempestuous recording by the bassist. His curious habit of constantly reworking compositions, pet chord progressions, phrases & ideas is strongly evident here--perhaps a little too strongly: "Moanin'" & "E's Flat Ah's Flat Too", in particular, are identically structured musical rounds built up over Pepper Adams' full-tilt baritone riffs. "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting" & "My Jelly Roll Soul" are also worth cross-referencing to performances on other Mingus albums of the period.

The ten-strong band on here is superb--Jackie McLean, Booker Ervin, Jimmy Knepper, John Handy, Pepper Adams, Horace Parlam & Mal Waldron..... A special word for Willie Dennis, a tragically short-lived trombonist who never recorded much in his lifetime but was a truly astonishing musician--check out Ronnie Ball's (deleted, but not hard to find) Savoy disc with Dennis & Ted Brown in the front line for a rare extended sample of Dennis's improvisational powers. On _Blues & Roots_, alas, he only gets the briefest of look-ins.

A fine, very enjoyable album: give it a listen.