New Mingus Book

[bassame]

I just finished reading Todd S. Jenkins, "I Know what I know: the music of Charles Mingus" (Praeger). The author has assembled every recording of Mingus he could find, listened to them, and offered his comments such as "a beautiful solo here", "a high flying passage in the upper register", "a searing trumpet solo" and other equally illuminating remarks. He points out alternate takes released later, and repacking of the same takes. It's a discography in narrative form, without the consistency that a discography would require.

I suppose you can use it to learn about recordings you never heard of, and then listen to them yourself. But at $50 I was disappointed. The author intentionally avoids talking too technically about music. What are all you grad students in musicology doing? Where are the serious studies of our great bassists?? Let's get going!

[Aaron Saunders]

...so he just wrote poor quality liner notes for the albums and called it a book, or what? Are you reccomending we check this out, or steer clear?

I'd take the $50 and spend it on Mingus recordings instead, personally. I'd rather hear the "high flying passage in the upper register" than read about it, especially if he's not going to actually analyze the material in a theoretical or even meaningful sense.

[bassame]

Originally Posted by Aaron Saunders

I'd take the $50 and spend it on Mingus recordings instead, personally. I'd rather hear the "high flying passage in the upper register" than read about it, especially if he's not going to actually analyze the material in a theoretical or even meaningful sense.

My sentiments exactly.

[deaf pea]

+1 on the idea of spending the $50 on Mingus CDs instead of this book!