Confess yo' sins!

[Dad3353]

2 hours ago, Ceebass said:

Interesting how Mingus polarises opinion...

I've no problems with Mingus, just this particular piece, which, to me, is well under par for release. Here's a better rendering, in my view (different title, but it's the same, really, but played and recorded much better...). Compare and contrast...

 

Edited September 13, 2018 by Dad3353

[Owen]

For me the whole Mingus thing is a bit like Monk. A lot of what Monk plays is pretty out there (and I am not talking about "outside" harmony), but it works just because it is him playing. Someone else playing the same notes would not work. It is as if what he is saying trancends the actual music. I am aware that this would qualify for pseuds corner, but that is how I hear it. And again, it is just as well that there is something for everyone. For the record, I think Rhubarb is wrong. And sprouts. 

[songofthewind]

Not pseud's corner to me. There are definitely artists whose character seems to come through in an uncanny (i.e. not easily detectable) way.

I have been fixated on Miles Davis for this reason, also Joni Mitchell. She even devoted an album to Mingus, I just remembered. Can anybody else detect the thread that runs though the work of these people? It's not just the dots, is it?

[Dad3353]

36 minutes ago, songofthewind said:

...Can anybody else detect the thread that runs though the work of these people? It's not just the dots, is it?

No, not just the dots; if fact, hardly the dots at all, for some geniuses (genuii..?  ). +1 for Joni Mitchell as one of the Right Up There At The Top elite, although there are one or two pieces that I pass on (or let slide...). Nobody's perfect, but she comes so darned close..! Miles Davis is a bit more quirky, hit'n'miss, depending also on my mood when listening.
One of my all-time favourites of all time is Schubert's Ninth; I listened to it (again...) the other evening, and found it less inspirational than usual. In a few week's time, I'll listen again and it'll shine again (I hope and trust..!). Our state of mind is as important as that of the artist, and evolves, as does theirs.

Edited September 13, 2018 by Dad3353

[discreet]

I'm not a huge Jazz fan and will make fun of it on here - to my shame - but on my list of all-time favourite albums are:

Blues and Roots - Mingus

A Love Supreme - John Coltrane

Kind of Blue - Miles Davis

All sublime in their own way. 'So What' from Kind of Blue must be the best opening track on the album - and in fact any album, IMO.

 

[4000]

Have to say I grew up with jazz - in fact nothing else was allowed in my house until I bought my first ABBA album at 10 or 11 - and love much of it (although it's such a broad genre) but I never seem to get on with Mingus.