Charles Mingus - The Complete Candid Recordings (Mosaic), 3 CDs

Bassist/leader Charles Mingus cut some of his most exciting and rewarding recordings for Candid in 1960 and this superb four-LP set (which unfortunately is a limited edition) contains all of the music except for a couple of alternate takes that showed up later on. Five selections feature the brilliant piano-less quartet of Eric Dolphy (on alto, bass clarinet, and flute), trumpeter Ted Curson, Mingus, and drummer Dannie Richmond, and these are highlighted by the bass clarinet-bass conversation on "What Love" and the interplay between the four musicians on the very memorable "Folk Forms No. 1." Other musicians are added to six other selections (including the 19-minute jam "MDM") and five other numbers feature trumpeter Roy Eldridge who is teamed with altoist Dolphy on three of the songs; those pieces originally appeared on the Newport Rebels' LP. This is a highly recommended set. All Music Guide

Personnel:

Disc 1
(1-5):
Ted Curson - trumpet
Eric Dolphy - alto sax, bass clarinet, flute
Charles Mingus - bass
Dannie Richmond - drums
(6):
Dannie Richmond - drums


Disc 2
(1-3):
Ted Curson - trumpet
Lonnie Hillyer - trumpet
Eric Dolphy - alto sax, bass clarinet, flute
Charles McPherson - alto sax
Booker Ervin - tenor sax (except on 1)
Jimmy Knepper - trombone
Britt Woodman - trombone (on 3)
Nico Bunink - piano
Charles Mingus - bass
Dannie Richmond - drums
(4-6):
Ted Curson - trumpet except on 4
Lonnie Hillyer - trumpet
Eric Dolphy - alto sax, bass clarinet, flute (except on 4)
Charles McPherson - alto sax
Booker Ervin - tenor sax
Paul Bley - piano
Charles Mingus - bass
Dannie Richmond - drums


Disc 3:
Roy Eldridge - trumpet
Jimmy Knepper - trombone on 1-4
Eric Dolphy - alto sax, bass clarinet, flute (on 1-4)
Tommy Flanagan - piano
Charles Mingus - bass
Jo Jones - drums


Track Listing:

Disc 1: The Quartet

1. Folk Forms No. 1 (13:01)
2. Original Faubus Fables (aka Faubus Of Fables) (9:03)
3. What Love? (15:19)
4. All The Things You Could Be By Now If Sigmund Freud's Wife Was Your Mother (8:33)
5. Stormy Weather (13:23) (Arlen)
6. Melody From The Drums (9:21) (Richmond)


Disc 2: The Ensemble

1. Reincarnation Of A Lovebird No. 1 (9:17)
2. Vasserlean (aka Weird Nightmare) (6:36)
3. MDM (19:07)
4. Bugs (8:25)
5. Reincarnation Of A Lovebird (6:55)
6. Lock 'Em Up (6:41)


Disc 3: The Eldridge Session

1. Mysterious Blues (8:35)
2. Body And Soul (13:45) (Green)
3. Body And Soul (alternate) (10:45)
4. R & R (11:48) (Eldridge/Brown)
5. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams (3:48) (Moll/Koehler/Barris)
6. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams (alternate) (3:50)
7. Me And You (9:52) (Eldridge/Mingus/Flanagan/Jones)

All compositions by Charles Mingus unless otherwise noted