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!
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!
