Duke Ellington, Charlie Mingus, Max Roach - Money Jungle

What an alliance: a legendary bandleader and composer, a pioneering bop drummer, and an unclassifiable (and often prickly) bass behemoth. It's no wonder that the tension between Duke Ellington, Max Roach, and Charlie Mingus is thick and extremely tangible, permeating this breathtaking 1962 album with passion and aggression. On the jagged blues "Very Special," Ellington establishes a weighty mood while his piano work almost borders on free jazz. Roach's sticks dance and prance across every inch of his kit on "A Little Max"; on "Caravan" he effectively shifts from exotic rhythms to straight time. Duke's harmonic invention is delicate and mysterious on "Fleurette Africaine," but simultaneously jarring and cerebral on the confrontational "Wig Wise." It's hard to believe only three people are creating the stomping, disjointed monster that is the title track. Ellington alone emphasizes the beautiful melodies of the classic ballads "Soltitude" and "Warm Valley," but the edge returns when the rhythm section joins him. Mingus, who actually idolized Ellington, seems to be purposely agitating the master, almost taunting him. You'd say the synergy was magical, except that they seem to be working against each other. --Marc Greilsamer Amazon.com essential recording

Money Jungle

I love this CD. It's as enjoyable as I expected it to be and that's saying a lot. Roach is excellent, Mingus is as good as ever, and Ellington's presence ensures that every minute of it *swings*. Good stuff. December 18, 2007

Duke should have done this more often, 4 1/2 stars

Duke Ellington recorded two albums in the same month with younger musicians near the peaks of their powers. There is the disc with John Coltrane, and this one with Charles Mingus and Max Roach. I wish Duke had done more of that, because both discs are very good. "Money Jungle" shows a surprisingly avant-garde side of Duke Ellington.

This CD opens up with the title track, which is an absolute 5-star song. "Money Jungle" sounds unlike anything you'd expect from Duke Ellington. It wouldn't sound out of place on a Bad Plus CD, for example. It bristles with raw energy. Charles Mingus hits the same note on the bass like he was Neil Young. The song is timeless, and reason alone to get the CD. Things settle down for "Fleurette Africaine" where everyone plays with more touch and subtlety. "Very Special" can be considered the "average" song on this CD - it's blues-based, mid-tempo, and has very tasty playing. "Wig Wise" is a revelation to me, this version sounds better than any other I've heard. The version of "Caravan" puts a unique twist on an often-played classic. "Solitude" is in large part a Duke solo spot. "A Little Max" is a sprightly, catchy tune. Not counting the alternate versions, the rest of the disc and the bonus tracks are similar to "Very Special" in their bluesiness. The playing is stellar across the board. It's great to hear Duke without a big band, Mingus is Mingus, and Max Roach doesn't play flashily, but he always a very musical drummer. This CD is highly recommended, even if you're not a big fan of Duke's big band stuff. November 20, 2007

Clash of the titans

Remarkable album, indeed!
Duke Ellington, a great classical (but always explorative) pianist, composer, arranger and band leader is teamd up with two of the best modernist players, Charles Mingus and Max Roach and, as opposed to occasions where artists modify theri style to conform to one of the players, this is a true fight, a clash of the musical titans who respect and challenge each other.

Not all the numbers are equally enjoyable for me, but this is still, I believe one of the best albums I have ever heard (although it's not one of my favorites).
July 28, 2007

Glorified session from seminal names yeilds a few outstanding cuts amongst less involving fare

3 1/2

I must side with a tiny minority in judging this album of three jazz giants as overrated, though certainly not grossly. The album seems to find these players manipulating traditional forms moreso then arranging new ones. Anybody steeped in the genre would probably never allow this one out of their collection (Ellington fans in particular are treated to a rare and unhinged treat), but the combined strained effort does not add up to the masterpiece one would expect from these worthy musicians. Spending the majority of time between over-cooked experimentation and auto-piloted bop, rarely does the music flow as it seemingly should; forget about any intra-band tensions or any of that esoteric nonsense, an abundance of showy overplaying and jarring, ego-centric competition robs Money Jungle of much true musical tension. It does sometimes feel that bass work from the exceptional though difficult Charlie Mingus intentionally goes out of it's way to further smear any cohesiveness between the trio. As underwhelming as it's pedigree may suggest, the album still maintains a level of technical proficiency that cannot be denied from an objective standpoint, playing out like a good, but not great, avant garde-meets-traditional Jazz work from the early 60's. May 29, 2007

Duke does Mingus- earthy, raw, transcendent

After listening to this excellent cd I feel I must point this out. Although Duke wrote all these tracks, it seems to me that the Duke's performance was completely inspired by Charles Mingus's playing. You will never hear Ellington sound as raw and as immediate and as he sounds here. Duke gets top billing but to me this cd is as much Mingus (and Roach) as it is Duke. May 16, 2007

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