Classics: Mingus Ah Um

Charles Mingus bass and voiceJohn Handy alto saxophone, tenor on “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” and clarinet on “Pussy Cat Dues”Booker Ervin tenor saxophoneShafi Hadi alto and tenor saxophonesJimmy Knepper trombone (May 5, except “Bird Calls”)Willie Dennis trombone (May 12, except “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”)Horace Parlan pianoDannie Richmond drumsAll compositions by Charles MingusRecorded May 5 and 12, 1959, at Columbia 30th Street Studio, New YorkEngineered by Ray Moore and Fred PlautProduced by Teo MaceroCover painting by S. Neil FujitaReleased in 1959 by Columbia Records (CL 1370 mono, CS 8171 stereo) John Handy recalls being on the bandstand at New York’s Half Note one night in March 1959 when word came that Lester Young had died. Charles Mingus took up a slow blues in C minor and gave Handy the first solo, urging him on until the tune had taken considerably longer to tell than the news itself. By May he had written “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” a quiet centerpiece of the album at hand. Mingus…

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