Charles Mingus In Paris - The Complete America Session

SSC3065 2007-05-22

Track List

Reincarnation Of A Lovebird - 15:11
Peggy's Blue Skylight - 12:52
Love Is A Dangerous Necessity - 4:36
Blue Bird - 18:10
Pithecanthropus Erectus - 16:41
Reincarnation Of A Lovebird [warm up and false start] - 0:30
Reincarnation Of A Lovebird [second false start] - 1:49
Reincarnation Of A Lovebird [third false start] - 0:06
Reincarnation Of A Lovebird [incomplete] - 4:51
Peggy's Blue Skylight [first false start] - 0:15
Peggy's Blue Skylight [second false start] - 0:15
Peggy's Blue Skylight [third false start and rehearsal] - 0:37
Peggy's Blue Skylight [alternate (fastversion)] - 9:47
Blue Bird [incomplete] - 4:12
Reprise - 0:42
Love Is A Dangerous Necessity [first false start] - 1:06
Love Is A Dangerous Necessity [second false start] - 1:49
Pithecanthropus Erectus [first take, incomplete] - 7:33
Pithecanthropus Erectus [reprise] - 0:54
Pithecanthropus Erectus [rehearsal] - 0:35
Pithecanthropus Erectus [false start] - 0:09
Pithecanthropus Erectus [to the end] - 10:02
Pithecanthropus Erectus [Mingus explanations, restart] - 2:17

Musicians

Charles Mingus - acoustic bass
Eddie Preston - trumpet
Charles McPherson - alto saxophone
Bobby Jones - tenor saxophone
Jackie Byard - piano
Dannie Richmond - drums

This was recorded on October 31st 1970 in a single, sleepless night, the fleeting space of a session that took place almost undetected, and in a sort of urgent calm. The scene was a deserted Decca studio on the rue Beaujon, a stone's throw from the Champs-Élysées; the session had been set up (for the America label) at a few hours' notice by Pierre Jaubert,
the day after a concert given by the sextet at the TNP, and this particular studio date was long considered minor in the Mingus discography when compared with the masterpieces he achieved in maturity. And yet, from both a historical and a musical standpoint, this unexpected session – it was anything but premeditated – undeniably stands apart in the bassist's work; originally released as two records (Pithycanthropus Erectus and Blue Bird), and here reissued for the first time in its entire, intimate dramaturgy, the recordings constitute precious and moving testimony to one of the least-documented periods of his exceptional career; with hindsight, it was a period that saw the decisive moment when, after years of doubt and silence, Mingus found a new confidence and faith in his music; it was the instant when he began his final creative resurrection.