Charles Mingus - Oh Yeah

Besides the masterfully sloppy music within, this 1961 recording offers two noteworthy elements to the Mingus discography: the presence of Roland Kirk blowing his usual assortment of horn-like oddities, and the presence of Mingus himself on piano (Doug Watkins replaces Mingus on bass). The loose (even for Mingus) environment brings Mingus's vibrant but tense sense of humor to the fore. As usual, his compositions borrow heavily from blues and gospel sources. His quirky, devilish piano work adds a new dimension to his music while Kirk, Booker Ervin, and Jimmy Knepper all contribute solos that are alternately pithy and passionate. Mingus even sings his own idiosyncratic lyrics in a number of spots. The CD reissue adds a long but at times insightful interview with Atlantic head Neshui Ertegun. Not a Mingus essential, but rewarding for its peek into Mingus's complex personality and its compelling blend of bitterness and jocularity. --Marc Greilsamer Amazon.com

I know it's good all around, but....

I love this album for all the noise brought on the first track, "Hog callin' Blues." It's so loose and all over the place a friend of mine who'd never heard of Mingus before, but said he liked jazz said, "it sounds like the warmup." I just shook my head, it's just so much fun to listen to and imagine Mingus going nuts onstage and in the studio. I bop my head to it subconsciously a bit and then when I realize it, I keep it up because the song is so much fun. I can't imagine living another day without that groove in my head. As for the rest, it's all fun, weird, and funny, but for me, the first track is the moneymaker. May 7, 2007

Who Says Humor and Jazz Are Mutually Exclusive?

This recording in part defines why I love Mingus so much, the man was a MAJOR risk-taker! Never content to sit in one area for long, Mingus not only went out ona limb, but had a lot of fun doing it, you can feel the joy as you listen, and judging by the musicians performances, the joy was contagious!

"Hog Callin' Blues" is unabashed, pedal to the metal shoutin' blues, literally, as Mingus just whoops and hollers with gleeful abandon encouraging the musicians to go for broke. "Ecclusiastics" and "Oh Lord Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me" show the influence of church music that Mingus grew up with, the slow gospel flavor mixed with passionate blues. In addition, "Eat That Chicken" is just HILARIOUS (and apparently sent many a vegetarian into an uproar), and the brilliance is uninhibited with tracks like "Devil Woman" and the very unpredictable "Passions Of A Man".

Mingus took a major departure here in another respect, by giving the bass to one Doug Watkins (who sadly died in a car crash not long after the album's release) who handles the task more than admirably. Opting to sit down at the piano and even SING, Mingus goes for broke to express how he feels deep down and let people in on more aspects of his inner world, the humor, the pain and everything else! Drummer Dannie Richmond heats things up considerably for all involved with his fiery and incredibly flexible playing. The pairing of Brooker Ervin and Rahsaan Roland Kirk on various reeds is nothing short of genius, between Ervin's pointed explorations on tenor and Kirk's crazy ecclectic palette of sounds, including tenor sax, flute, siren, stritch (a sort of mutant soprano sax) and manzello (a straightened alto sax). Jimmy Knepper adds pungent statements on his trombone, with much humor and agility.

Colorful and hilariously unpredictable is the only way I can think to describe this unique blues-drenched Mingus offering. April 10, 2007

Best Mingus Disc

While Mingus Ah Um and The Black Saint & the Sinner Lady get the most attention (and hey, they're great), Oh Yeah is my favorite Mingus album EVER. He drops bass in favor of piano, and he's quite a capable pianist too. He adds interesting vocals to a few of the album's high points (Devil Woman; the hilarious, pseudo-novelty throwback Eat That Chicken). This is the best example of Mingus exploring his gospel/blues roots, and that's where the guy's at his best. Packed with excellent tunes, my favorites are Hog Callin' Blues; Devil Woman; Oh Lord Please Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me; Eat That Chicken and Passions of a Man January 13, 2007

po-mo psycho dada din

This is a great album for multiple reasons. But especially worth it for jazz history fans, and Mingus-heads in particular, because of the final track, an interview of Charles Mingus by Nesuhi Ertegun that must be almost half an hour long. (you'll want to change the genre coding on the one track from jazz to spoken word or something like that, so it doesn't interrupt the flow when you shuffle by genre).

Ertegun asks him why he decided to sing on this album. He explains in his reply that he always sings when he plays, they just happened to mike it for this album. I re-listened to some other Mingus albums and, sure enough, there he is in the background, singing, screaming, talking. I also liked when someone comes in, interrupts the interview, because an important call has come in for Ertegun. Mingus tells him, take your call, don't worry, just leave the tape recorder running and I'll keep talking. And he does.

Great stuff. The music is extraordinary too, it would be worth it even without the interview. He's certainly not a musician who would've become famous for his piano playing and singing. But he's a powerful enough personality and a big enough celebrity to do whatever he wants. I love him as a composer and on bass, with Ah Um probably being the best showcase of his real talents, but this is an excellent display of Mingus' gritty, funky, lax side, what you'd hear if you were lucky enough to hear Mingus and friends entertaining themselves at an after-hours party. "Wam Bam Thank You Ma'am" and "Eat That Chicken" are both tremendous, rollicking fun. "Ecclusiastics" starts off boring but gets fun before it ends. "Oh Lord Don't Let Them Drop that Atomic Bomb on Me" is as intense as you would imagine from the title. Passions of a Man is a nice, odd, proto-psychedelic number. Good fun. Having Roland Kirk and Booker Ervin both soloing on sax adds another unique and welcome layer. Buy it, enjoy it, have fun, be safe.

November 24, 2006

oh mingus oh yeah so gratefuly

well I wish I had endless stars to rate this album,here Mingus is loud and loose to it's perfection,he has a beautiful powerful voice-wish he had made some more albums singing... August 8, 2006

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