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This is one of my all time favorites. Many reviewers call it "hauntingly beautiful" and it certainly owns that description. Anyone who likes Mingus' music must be curious to hear what he did on the piano by himself. You will be well rewarded.
The technical skill is a tool that is refined over a lifetime. I myself am a jazz pianist and this repeated commenting on charles mingus's technical skill tells me just how shallow and no artistic the jazz community has become in this day and age. If technical demonstrations are all that matters the one can go simply watch a carpenter build a house or listen to good classical music composer(although a large portion was improvised originally by the masters such as listz and chopin). I guess leadbelly isnt worth a damn either because he cant play guitar like Django Rhinehardt. Jazz always has been,and always will be about what you have to say as a human being. Thats all ill say on that so as not to sound too inflammatory which mingus was often accused of; now i understand why at age 40. peace jg
I can only listen to this album maybe once a year. Mingus was certainly one of the greatest jazz bassists ever, a notable composer and bandleader, but I think this album, his piano playing, really highlights his musical genius. The melodies, the chords, the feelings it invokes are so beautiful, so haunting that when I listen to this I can't get the sounds out of my head for a couple of days. I usually have absolutely no clue what to put on the turntable (I have the vinyl reissue from 1982, which regrettably doesn't have all the songs on this CD) after I've listened to this, so I sit in the dark, unable to put on the light and examine the shelves. Most instruments in jazz don't really lend themselves to solo performance. The dynamic range of the piano does, however, and here you can hear Mingus' compositional ideas in an intimate setting in their full complexity, and in their barest forms at the same time.
I think pianists may be more critical of the manner in which Mingus played and the unorthodox chord voicings he used on this recording, but I think that if the music is listened to and absorbed without that in mind it can be appreciated for what it is: a beautiful expression from a creative genius. The introspective nature of his playing on songs like "Old Portrait" (which the liner notes state he wrote about his divorce from his first wife) really caught my ear.
Although I'm not a pianist and can't comment on the technical aspects of Mingus' playing as others have, I'm impressed with his improvisational skills. I purchased this CD one week ago and already I've listened to it countless times.
This CD captures Mingus' sensitive side. Its amazing to me that he was able to create this music spontaneously and on piano, which was not his primary instrument.
I saw a documentary on Mingus years ago which focused on his gruff and often angry character, but as with all geniuses he was not one-dimensional. The intimate and reflective tone of this music has made this CD an instant favorite of mine, and I can already tell that this is a disc I will be playing over and over for years.
If you love solo piano it doesn't get any better than this.
And it's also clear that had he chosen this path, he'd've been a pianist of some repute.The performances are largely pretty laid back, Mingus is in a pretty meditative and bluesy mood-- he tackles a few standards, some of his own compositions, and improvisations on brief themes within his music. He'd already recorded what may be his masterwork in "Black Saint and the Sinner Lady" when he returned to the studio to record in a rather unique manner-- as a solo pianist. 1963 was quite a year for Charles Mingus. The best of the material is delicate and lovely ("Myself When I Am Real"), energetic but not aggressive ("Body and Soul") or just stunning ("Orange Was the Color Of Her Dress, Then Silk Blues"). The result is the stunning and often achingly beautiful "Mingus Plays Piano: Spontaneous Compositions and Improvisations".Mingus, for someone known as a bassist, is quite a pianist-- his style is heavily indebted to Ellington, but there's also shades of Monk and Powell in his playing. More importantly, though, it's clear Mingus composed at the piano, as the voicings unique to his music are extraordinarily clear on this recording. And while it lacks much of the bite, sarcasm, and aggressivenes of some of Mingus' better work, it is in its own way, a stunning album. Highly recommended.
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