Columbia · in the Kissa Kissa racks
Mingus Ah Um
| Recorded | May 5-12, 1959 |
|---|---|
| Label | Columbia |
| Released | 1959 |
| Personnel | 8 credited players |
| Discogs | master 65014 |
The record
Cut during the same fertile spring as Kind of Blue, this Columbia date channels the same era's ferment into churchy shouts and elegies -- "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" mourns Lester Young while "Fables of Faubus" bites back at segregationists. A big, brawling band sound built on gospel roots and hard-swinging arrangements, with Richmond's drums driving every twist.
Session personnel
- John Handy — alto saxophone, clarinet
- Shafi Hadi — alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
- Charles Mingus — bass, composed by
- Dannie Richmond — drums
- Horace Parlan — piano
- Booker Ervin — tenor saxophone
- Jimmy Knepper — trombone
- Willie Dennis — trombone
Contemporary reception
No period review located yet. The vintage-press pipeline searches DownBeat, Cash Box, and Billboard for this session.
Pressings
Mono and stereo both land in 1959 -- Columbia CL 1370 in mono and CS 8171 in stereo, the stereo being the earliest row on file and carrying a deep groove. A 1961 CL 1370 mono repress is deep groove as well. Period foreign copies are worth knowing: Philips BBL 7352 in the UK and Columbia YL-155 mono / YS-128 stereo in Japan, both 1960. Modern options run to Classic Records' CS 8171 (1995) and Mobile Fidelity's 45 RPM UD1S 2-010 box, 2020.
Showing the first pressing, audiophile reissues and copies carrying a collector marker, out of 183 pressings on file.
| 1959 | Columbia · CL 1370 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono earliest on file · deep groove |
|---|---|
| 1959 | Columbia · CS 8171 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo · deep groove |
| 1959 | Columbia · CS 8171 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo · deep groove |
| 1961 | Columbia · CL 1370 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Repress, Mono · deep groove |
| 1959 | Columbia · CL 1370 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono |
| 1959 | Columbia · B 13701 — Vinyl, EP, 7", 45 RPM |
| 1959 | Coronet (2) · KLLS 1658 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo |
| 1959 | Columbia · CL 1370 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Promo, Mono |
| 1959 | Columbia · CL 1370 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono |
| 1959 | Columbia · CS 8171 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo |
| 1959 | Columbia · CL 1370 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono |
| 1959 | Columbia · CS 8171 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Promo, Stereo |
| 1959 | Columbia · CL 1370 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono |
| 1959 | Coronet (2) · KLL-1658 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono, Microgroove |
Follow the players
John Handy also plays on
Shafi Hadi also plays on
Charles Mingus also plays on