Mingus (album)
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| Mingus | ||
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| Studio album by Joni Mitchell | ||
| Released | 1979 | |
| Recorded | ??? | |
| Genre | Folk-rock, Jazz | |
| Length | 37:20 | |
| Label | Asylum | |
| Producer(s) | Joni Mitchell | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| Joni Mitchell chronology | ||
| Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (1977) |
Mingus (1979) |
Shadows and Light (1980) |
Mingus is the 1979 album by Joni Mitchell, a collaboration with jazz musician Charles Mingus recorded in the months before his death. Most of the songs are written by Mingus, with lyrical and arrangement contributions from Mitchell. The album itself is quite experimental, featuring minimalist jazz, overplucked, buzzing acoustic guitars and even wolves howling through "The Wolf That Lives In Lindsey".
The album is spliced with excerpts (labelled "(Rap)") from tape recordings provided by Sue-Graham Mingus, including a scat singing interplay between Joni and Mingus, and Charles and Sue arguing over his age at a birthday party. In "Funeral", Mingus and others discuss how long he'll live and what his funeral will be like. He refers to the Vedanta Society and asserts that "I'ma cut Duke!" As it turned out, Duke lived twenty years longer than Mingus.
"God Must Be A Boogie Man" was the only song Mingus was unable to hear, having taken shape two days after his death; Mitchell posits in the liner notes that Mingus would have found it hilarious.
The artwork features several paintings by Mitchell of Mingus.
[edit] Track listing
- "Happy Birthday 1975" (Rap) – 0:57
- "God Must Be A Boogie Man" – 4:35
- "Funeral" (Rap) – 1:07
- "A Chair in the Sky" – 6:42
- "The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey" – 6:35
- "I's a Muggin'" (Rap) – 0:07
- "Sweet Sucker Dance" – 8:04
- "Coin in the Pocket" (Rap) – 0:11
- "The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines" – 3:21
- "Lucky" (Rap) – 0:04
- "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" – 5:37
