Bassist/composer Charles Mingus: "Mingus Presents Mingus"

This set was recorded in October 1960 for the new Candid label. Writer and close Mingus friend Nat Hentoff was the producer and Mingus brought his core band in a reunited effort to capture the music that Mingus had played on a long gig at a Greenwich Village club called "The Showplace". There were no recordings from there and this date was set up to capture the excitement and creativity of that gig. It worked! Mingus did the announcements as if they were in the club and the band played for their lives. Just four musicians in this edition of The Jazz Workshop. Multi-instrumentalist and innovator Eric Dolphy is heard in bass clarinet and alto saxophone. Trumpeter Ted Curson has never sounded better than here and he and Dolphy are a perfect match. Mingus is of course a powerhouse on bass and drummer Dannie Richmond achieves maturity right here with some of his best playing. "Mingus Presents Mingus" stands as one of Charles Mingus' finest ststements and one of his best recordings and captures what this band really sounded like.