MINGUS CHARLIE - Oh Yeah, Schallplatten

Billboard wrote of this album at the time: "He's everywhere but on his usual instrument." Charles Mingus, one of the most impressive bassists in jazz history, doesn't play a note on the bass here for once, but leads the band from the (blues) piano - the instrument on which he always composed. He hits the keys, he sings the blues, he screams and he cheers - Mingus obviously felt a very special need for expression on this album project. (Doug Watkins stands in for him on double bass.) "Oh Yeah" is indeed one of Mingus' strongest and most passionate albums. He has two hot, intense saxophonists with him - Roland Kirk and Booker Ervin - as well as Jimmy Knepper on trombone. Kirk is the main soloist, but all three wind players deliver expressive improvisations, constantly commenting on each other and pushing each other to the maximum energy level. The music is wild and ecstatic, but it doesn't become free jazz; it remains grounded in blues and gospel. "Hog Callin' Blues" is a gripping shuffle with lots of riffs, "Devil Woman" is a clever slow blues with original brass figures. The most complex form is "Ecclusiastics" with its constant changes of rhythm and expression between gospel and blues. The blues has always been a part of the black church service, Mingus said, and "Eat That Chicken" (a homage to Fats Waller's favorite meal) even plays with an old-time and Dixie feel. There is never a shortage of humor. Even the atomic bomb song (also a kind of church blues) says: "Don't let 'em drop it! Stop it! Be-bop it!"This Speakers Corner production was made using analog master tape and mastering 100% pure analog. More information at www.pure-analogue.com. All licenses and GEMA fees have been paid.Line-upCharles Mingus - Piano, Vocals / Booker Ervin - Tenor Saxophone / Roland Kirk - Flute, Tenor Saxophone, Siren, Manzello, Stritch / Jimmmy Knepper - Trombone / Doug Watkins - Bass / Dannie Richmond - DrumsTitle Side A Side B 1.Hag Callin' Blues 7:26 Ecclusiastics 6:55 2.Devil Woman 9:38 Oh Lord Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me 5:383.Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am 4:41 Eat That Chicken 4:364. Passions Of A Man 4:52TechniqueRecording: November 1961 at Atlantic Studios, New York City, by Tom Dowd and Phil IehleProduction: Nesuhi Ertegun.