Charles Mingus | Mingus Ah Um | Vinyl

Recorded in May 1959 at Columbia’s 30th Street Studio and produced by Teo Macero, Mingus Ah Um showcases bassist and composer Charles Mingus at his most ambitious, moving from the gospel-inflected “Better Git It in Your Soul” to the tender tribute “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” written for saxophonist Lester Young. The pointed “Fables of Faubus” targeted Arkansas governor Orval Faubus over his opposition to school desegregation, though Columbia required the original vocal lyrics be dropped from this instrumental version. The album is widely considered one of the finest jazz records of its era, inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and preserved in the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry. This edition brings Mingus’s landmark session back to vinyl.

Track List

Side A

1. Better Git It in Your Soul
2. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
3. Boogie Stop Shuffle
4. Self-Portrait in Three Colors
5. Open Letter to Duke

Side B

1. Bird Calls
2. Fables of Faubus
3. Pussy Cat Dues
4. Jelly Roll

Release Details

• UPC: 8436028696819
• Label: Jazz Wax Records
• Format: LP Vinyl — Standard
• Genre: Jazz
• Release Date: 2/23/2010