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Oh Yeah

Charles Mingus - Oh Yeah Audio CD

A fair review of the Charles Mingus "Oh Yeah" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Charles Mingus reviews here, or go back to the Charles Mingus tabs.

Band: Charles Mingus
Title: Oh Yeah
Rating:

Release Date: 1999-02-16
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Hog Callin' Blues 2: Devil Woman 3: Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am 4: Ecclusiastics 5: Oh Lord, Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me 6: Eat That Chicken 7: Passions of a Man 8: "Old" Blues for Walt's Torin [*] 9: Peggy's Blue Skylight [*] 10: Invisible Lady [*]

mingus energy
charles mingus should be in every cd player his music is at its heart bluesey i know he is a genius composer ledgendary improvisor and has virtuosic musicality but i always feel he should be listened to by music lovers not just jazz lovers this cd is awesome very driving music i also love the cd" blues and roots" his perspective also the era he was in make him an icon but his music is accsesable which most people never mention.

I know it's good all around, but....
" It's so loose and all over the place a friend of mine who'd never heard of Mingus before, but said he liked jazz said, "it sounds like the warmup. I love this album for all the noise brought on the first track, "Hog callin' Blues. " I just shook my head, it's just so much fun to listen to and imagine Mingus going nuts onstage and in the studio. I bop my head to it subconsciously a bit and then when I realize it, I keep it up because the song is so much fun. I can't imagine living another day without that groove in my head. As for the rest, it's all fun, weird, and funny, but for me, the first track is the moneymaker. .

Who Says Humor and Jazz Are Mutually Exclusive?
"Ecclusiastics" and "Oh Lord Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me" show the influence of church music that Mingus grew up with, the slow gospel flavor mixed with passionate blues. This recording in part defines why I love Mingus so much, the man was a MAJOR risk-taker! Never content to sit in one area for long, Mingus not only went out ona limb, but had a lot of fun doing it, you can feel the joy as you listen, and judging by the musicians performances, the joy was contagious!

"Hog Callin' Blues" is unabashed, pedal to the metal shoutin' blues, literally, as Mingus just whoops and hollers with gleeful abandon encouraging the musicians to go for broke. In addition, "Eat That Chicken" is just HILARIOUS (and apparently sent many a vegetarian into an uproar), and the brilliance is uninhibited with tracks like "Devil Woman" and the very unpredictable "Passions Of A Man".

Mingus took a major departure here in another respect, by giving the bass to one Doug Watkins (who sadly died in a car crash not long after the album's release) who handles the task more than admirably. Opting to sit down at the piano and even SING, Mingus goes for broke to express how he feels deep down and let people in on more aspects of his inner world, the humor, the pain and everything else! Drummer Dannie Richmond heats things up considerably for all involved with his fiery and incredibly flexible playing. The pairing of Brooker Ervin and Rahsaan Roland Kirk on various reeds is nothing short of genius, between Ervin's pointed explorations on tenor and Kirk's crazy ecclectic palette of sounds, including tenor sax, flute, siren, stritch (a sort of mutant soprano sax) and manzello (a straightened alto sax). Jimmy Knepper adds pungent statements on his trombone, with much humor and agility.

Colorful and hilariously unpredictable is the only way I can think to describe this unique blues-drenched Mingus offering.

Best Mingus Disc
He drops bass in favor of piano, and he's quite a capable pianist too. While Mingus Ah Um and The Black Saint & the Sinner Lady get the most attention (and hey, they're great), Oh Yeah is my favorite Mingus album EVER. He adds interesting vocals to a few of the album's high points (Devil Woman; the hilarious, pseudo-novelty throwback Eat That Chicken). This is the best example of Mingus exploring his gospel/blues roots, and that's where the guy's at his best. Packed with excellent tunes, my favorites are Hog Callin' Blues; Devil Woman; Oh Lord Please Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me; Eat That Chicken and Passions of a Man.

po-mo psycho dada din
But especially worth it for jazz history fans, and Mingus-heads in particular, because of the final track, an interview of Charles Mingus by Nesuhi Ertegun that must be almost half an hour long.
This is a great album for multiple reasons. (you'll want to change the genre coding on the one track from jazz to spoken word or something like that, so it doesn't interrupt the flow when you shuffle by genre).

Ertegun asks him why he decided to sing on this album. He explains in his reply that he always sings when he plays, they just happened to mike it for this album. I re-listened to some other Mingus albums and, sure enough, there he is in the background, singing, screaming, talking. I also liked when someone comes in, interrupts the interview, because an important call has come in for Ertegun. Mingus tells him, take your call, don't worry, just leave the tape recorder running and I'll keep talking. And he does.

Great stuff. The music is extraordinary too, it would be worth it even without the interview. He's certainly not a musician who would've become famous for his piano playing and singing. But he's a powerful enough personality and a big enough celebrity to do whatever he wants. I love him as a composer and on bass, with Ah Um probably being the best showcase of his real talents, but this is an excellent display of Mingus' gritty, funky, lax side, what you'd hear if you were lucky enough to hear Mingus and friends entertaining themselves at an after-hours party. "Wam Bam Thank You Ma'am" and "Eat That Chicken" are both tremendous, rollicking fun. "Ecclusiastics" starts off boring but gets fun before it ends. "Oh Lord Don't Let Them Drop that Atomic Bomb on Me" is as intense as you would imagine from the title. Passions of a Man is a nice, odd, proto-psychedelic number. Good fun. Having Roland Kirk and Booker Ervin both soloing on sax adds another unique and welcome layer. Buy it, enjoy it, have fun, be safe.

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You can see a complete list of all Charles Mingus discography, or go back to the Charles Mingus tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.