Charles Mingus Black Saint And The Sinner Lady CD

Personnel: Charles Mingus (acoustic bass, piano); Jerome Richardson (soprano & baritone saxophones, flute); Charlie Mariano (alto saxophone); Dick Hafer (tenor saxophone, flute); Rolf Ericson, Richard Williams (trumpet); Quentin Jackson (trombone); Don Butterfield (tuba); Jaki Byard (piano); Jay Berliner (acoustic guitar); Dannie Richmond (drums).
Reissue producer: Michael Cuscuna.
Recorded in New York on January 20, 1963. Includes liner notes by Charles Mingus and Dr. Edmund Pollock.
Digitally remastered by Erick Labson (MCA Music Media).
Personnel: Charles Mingus (piano); Jay Berliner (guitar); Jerome Richardson (flute, soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone); Dick Hafer (flute, tenor saxophone); Charlie Manano, Charlie Mariano (alto saxophone); Richard Gene Williams , Rolf Ericson (trumpet); Quentin Jackson (trombone); Don Butterfield (tuba); Jaki Byard (piano); Dannie Richmond (drums).
Liner Note Author: Charles Mingus.
Recording information: New York, NY (01/20/1963).
Photographers: Bob Ghiraldini; Joe Alper.
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is one of the greatest achievements in orchestration by any composer in jazz history. Charles Mingus consciously designed the six-part ballet as his magnum opus, and -- implied in his famous inclusion of liner notes by his psychologist -- it's as much an examination of his own tortured psyche as it is a conceptual piece about love and struggle. It veers between so many emotions that it defies easy encapsulation; for that matter, it can be difficult just to assimilate in the first place. Yet the work soon reveals itself as a masterpiece of rich, multi-layered texture and swirling tonal colors, manipulated with a painter's attention to detail. There are a few stylistic reference points -- Ellington, the contemporary avant-garde, several flamenco guitar breaks -- but the totality is quite unlike what came before it. Mingus relies heavily on the timbral contrasts between expressively vocal-like muted brass, a rumbling mass of low voices (including tuba and baritone sax), and achingly lyrical upper woodwinds, highlighted by altoist Charlie Mariano. Within that framework, Mingus plays shifting rhythms, moaning dissonances, and multiple lines off one another in the most complex, interlaced fashion he'd ever attempted. Mingus was sometimes pigeonholed as a firebrand, but the personal exorcism of Black Saint deserves the reputation -- one needn't be able to follow the story line to hear the suffering, mourning, frustration, and caged fury pouring out of the music. The 11-piece group rehearsed the original score during a Village Vanguard engagement, where Mingus allowed the players to mold the music further; in the studio, however, his exacting perfectionism made The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady the first jazz album to rely on overdubbing technology. The result is one of the high-water marks for avant-garde jazz in the '60s and arguably Mingus' most brilliant moment. ~ Steve Huey
Like his idol Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus wrote ambitious, complex works using the jazz ensemble with the exactitude and tonal sensitivity of a classical composer, while keeping the rhythmic vibrancy and improvisational heart of jazz beating fiercely. THE BLACK SAINT AND THE SINNER LADY is the apotheosis of Mingus's vision as a composer, and stands so far beyond the mainstream jazz of the day--in scope and execution--that it deserves its own category. A six-part self-described ballet, the album is packed with themes, motifs, and a polyphony of instrumental voices that weave an expressionistic narrative of intricacy, force, and elegance.
The story of the album is undoubtedly one of struggle; the allegory suggested by the two figures of the title seems to include Mingus's personal demons as well as universal themes of love and identity. There are great shifts in feeling as the 11-piece group enacts tonal contrasts, rhythmic change-ups (often signaled by a lone flamenco guitar), and aQ (2/96, p.109) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...a mixture of haunting bluesiness, dancing vivacity, and moments of Andalusian heat..."