Charles Mingus Mingus Revisited (P) 1960 PolyGram Records, Inc. (C) 1965 PolyGram Records, Inc. EmArcy 826 496-2 Compact Disc

Of all my experiences as a producer, none was more traumatic than the attempt, in 1960, to record an album for Mercury Records with Charles Mingus.

... After two days of crisis during which it seemed the album might never be made, I walked into the studio on the date of the session and could hardly believe my eyes. We had a twenty-two-piece orchestra, with Gunther Schuller conducting! Eric Dolphy, Clark Terry, Slide Hampton, Jimmy Knepper, Joe Farrell, Booker Ervin, Yusef Lateef and Paul Bley were among the participants...

Leonard Feather (from Earwitness To An Era, Part Five, chapter Westward)

Tracks

1. Take The "A" Train (3:34) (Billy Strayhorn)
   Interpolation: Exactly Like You (Jimmy McHugh)
2. Prayer For Passive Resistance (3:49)
3. Eclipse (3:45)
4. Mingus Fingus No. 2 (3:22)
5. Weird Nightmare (3:35)
6. Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me (3:33) (Duke Ellington)
   Interpolation: I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart (Ellington)
7. Bemoanable Lady (4:32)
8. Half-Mast Inhibition (8:12)

   All compositions by Charles Mingus unless otherwise noted

Personnel

• 1,2,3,5,6:
  • Ted Curson - trumpet
  • Jimmy Knepper - trombone (solo on 1)
  • Joe Farrell - tenor sax (first tenor solo on 1)
  • Booker Ervin - tenor sax (second tenor solo on 1)
  • Yusef Lateef - flute, tenor sax (third tenor solo on 1, solo on 5)
  • Eric Dolphy - flute
  • Roland Hanna - piano
  • Paul Bley - piano
  • Charles Mingus - bass
  • Dannie Richmond - percussion
  • Lorraine Cousins - vocal on 3 and 5
• 4,7,8:
  • Marcus Belgrave - trumpet
  • Hobart Dotson - trumpet
  • Clark Terry - trumpet
  • Ted Curson - trumpet
  • Richard Williams - trumpet
  • Slide Hampton - trombone
  • Charles Greenlee - trombone
  • Eddie Bert - trombone
  • Jimmy Knepper - trombone
  • Eric Dolphy - alto sax (solo on 7)
  • John LaPorta - sax
  • William Barron Jr. - sax
  • Joe Farrell - tenor sax
  • Yusef Lateef - tenor sax
  • Danny Bank - sax
  • Robert Di Domenica - flute
  • Harry Shulman - oboe
  • Don Butterfield - tuba
  • Roland Hanna - piano
  • Charles Mingus - bass
  • Charles McCracken - cello
  • Dannie Richmond - percussion
  • George Scott - percussion
  • Sticks Evans - percussion
  • Gunther Schuller - conductor on 8

Information

Date and location

• 1,2,3,5,6: May 25, 1960, New York City
• 4,7,8: May 24, 1960, New York City

Total time

35:12

Original issue (year)

Mercury SR-60627 (1961) as "Pre-Bird"

Reissues (year)

• Limelight LS-86015 (1965) as "Mingus Revisited"
• (198?) as "Pre-Bird"

Producer

Leonard Feather

Liner notes

Leonard Feather

See also

• Let My Children Hear Music