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Charles Mingus - New Tijuana Moods (1957) Genre: Jazz

Amazon.com:

When it was first released in 1962, five years after it was recorded, Charles Mingus declared this musical account of a bacchanalian trip to the notorious border town the best record he ever made. That may be exaggeration, but it's certainly one of Mingus's best, a suite of pieces that gives form to the range of both his oversized emotions and his varied compositional techniques. The sextet, which sounds like a far larger group, includes several musicians who would become perennial Mingus associates--drummer Dannie Richmond and trombonist Jimmy Knepper--as well as the gifted trumpeter Clarence Shaw, an obscure musician with a distinctive lyricism. In its tumult, passionate breadth, and programmatic content, Tijuana Moods looks ahead to Mingus's later masterpiece, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady.

Jazzitude.com:

There has never been an explanation for the fact that the album Mingus described as "the best album I ever made" sat in RCA's vaults from its recording in 1957 until its release in 1962. Mingus believes that had the album been released in 1957 it would have made a star of trumpet player Clarence Shaw, who does play brillliantly and beautifully on the album. In his liner notes, Mingus goes all out to compliment Shaw's playing, particularly his use of space, which Mingus describes as "listening". Mingus' group on this recording is as good as it gets, with standout performances not only from Shaw, but also from trombonist Jimmy Knepper, saxophonist Curtis Porter (Shafti Hadi), pianist Bill Triglia, and drummer Danny Richmond, who Mingus had switched from sax to drums only a month before this recording was made.

As if to make up for its non-timely release of the original Tijuana Moods, RCA, as part of its Bluebird reissue series in the 1970s, released it as New Tijuana Moods with a second album (later issued as a single CD) featuring alternate takes of each track, with the exception of "Ysabel's Table Dance". This had the result of restoring some solos that had been edited to shorten the original recordings, or in some cases allowing us to hear alternate solos that were every bit as good as the original. The edits on the original tracks are not particularly subtle, and it doesn't take too close a listen to hear the cut on Danny Richmond's drum solo in "Dizzy Moods", for example. Now, it's been reissued with a second CD featuring what amounts to a second version of the album. The new, improved Tijuana Moods is what we get on CD, and it is not only an excellent introduction to those not familiar with Mingus, it is an absolutely essential part of any jazz collection.

The album trades on the image of Tijuana as a wide-open border town of tequila, prostitutes, mariachis, hot sun, hot food, and intense living. As Mingus writes: "All the music on this album was written during a very blue period in my life. I was minus a wife, and in flight to forget her with an expected dream in Tijuana. But not even Tijuana could satisfy--despite the bullfight, jai alai, anything that you could imagine in a wild, wide-open town."

While there is some debate over whether such a Tijuana ever actually existed, Mingus creates a vivid tonal picture of just such a place in much the way his idol, Duke Ellington, might have done. We get bluesy themes, frenetic jazz ensemble passages, moody chord voicings, rowdy Latin themes, and intense rhythmic orgies. What's more, Mingus makes this group sound as though it were as big as Ellington's band, despite the fact that there are really only three horns and a rhythm section. This robustness of sound, acheived through horn voicings and colorations, is a Mingus hallmark. One can only marvel at how much sound he created with such a small group, and wonder what he might have done with a larger group to arrange these pieces for.

My advice is: if you don't yet own any Mingus or are unfamiliar with his work, make this your first stop. It sheds a lot of light on some of his more abstract recordings, and will completely amaze you. If you are familiar with Mingus but not with this album, you really must hear it. It will become one of your favorite jazz albums of all time.

Personnel:

Charles Mingus(bass)

Jimmy Knepper(trombone)

Curtis Porter [Shafti Hadi](alto sax)

Clarence Shaw(trumpet)

Bill Triglia (piano)

Danny Richmond (drums)

Frankie Dunlop (percsussion)

Ysabel Morel (castanets)

Lonnie Elder (voices)



Tracks:

1. Dizzy Moods

2. Ysabel's Table Dance

3. Tijuana Gift Shop

4. Los Mariachis

5. Flamingo

6. Dizzy Moods (Alternate Take)

7. Tijuana Gift Shop (Alternate Take)

8. Los Mariachis (Alternate Take)

9. Flamingo (Alternate Take)

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