| Mingus: The Early Years
I just picked up this four CD set entitled "Charlie Mingus: The Young Rebel". I got it at Tower Records. It has most of Mingus' recorded output from 1945-1953. Apart from the tunes with the Red Norvo trio, I don't think any of this has been available on CD before.
First of all, Mingus on bass 1945 sounds a hell of alot like Mingus on bass 1965. Whenever the bass jumps out on the really early stuff, I'm amazed at how much of Mingus' concept on bass had already been formed. And by the time you get to the 1950's, forget about it. Check out Mingus' solo on "Groovin High" with Bird circa 1952: no one had chops on bass like that back then, especially at that tempo; not O.P., not Ray Brown.
His bowing is in tune and has a nice sound, and his thumb position is highly developed.
I've been a big Mingus fan for years, but this stuff knocked me out, in terms of Mingus' historical stature as a bassist. I think he actually deserves far more credit as a bassist, especially in the 1945-1953 period, than he gets.
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