Charles Mingus- Let My Children Hear Music (1972)
Best Tracks: The Shoes of the Fisherman’s Wife Are Some Jiveass Slippers, Hobo Ho
Weakest Tracks: The Chill of Death
As you know, Occult, I’m going through a lot of jazz albums right now and, of course, Charles Mingus is among the artists I’m listening to. I might mention that his Blues and Roots turned out to be my favorite album of 1960. I’ve also heard the Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, probably his most acclaimed album.
So it is no surprise that, compared to those two albums, this one is a little bit of a letdown. Not that I don’t like it; in fact, I like this album quite a bit. It just doesn’t scream classic to me.
The album opens great with The Shoes of the Fisherman’s Wife Are Some Jiveass Slippers. That track rates right up there with the other Mingus classics as does Hobo Ho.
Most of the other tracks are pretty decent, but I thought The Chill of Death was kind of meh. Mingus doing spoken word just didn’t do it for me.
One thing I do like about Mingus that separates him from most other jazz greats is his use of strings, such as in Adagio Ma Non Troppo.
So basically when all is said and done, it’s not a classic, but it is a good album and I can give it a solid seven.
7/10 (the Word has spoken
)