TITLE: Vinyl Vlog 094
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Mingus Dynasty by Charles Mingus
WRITER: Ollie Ottoman
I really have no business reviewing or listening to jazz records. I'm a punk – or at least I feel like one – and it's not that I feel too good for jazz, but that I feel like jazz is too good for me. Or maybe I'm jaded and think that music needs lyrics and artists don't need to take lessons to make good music. But the truth is that I started with a Miles Davis and John Coltrane record more than ten years ago and have been continually listening to the genre; since I can't really escape it and I've never really been able to grasp it.
Of course, I know the greats like the aforementioned Davis and Coltrane and I've moved around to Art Blakey and Thelonious Monk, but it's only recently that I've started listening to Charles Mingus. I should have known I'd been missing out because when Marc Maron asked Thom Yorke what his favorite jazz musician was, he quickly mentioned Mingus as being "his guy."??Since I don't have the knowledge to understand jazz, I'll stick to what my senses can gather from Mingus Dynasty, which is that this record has a lot of what I love to find in jazz music; there's the wilder songs (like "Slop"), the calmer smoother parts (like "Diane") and the bebop-like tracks (like "New Now Know How"). Also there's that capper at the end with a vocal track ("Strollin'") which both takes me by surprise and fits right into the album. In short, Mingus Dynasty impresses to the point where one feels inclined to make their way through the rest of the Mingus catalog. And with a beautiful and elegant vinyl package, mastered from the original analog tapes, and pressed on 180g in Germany, why wouldn't you?
I have no idea what a perfect jazz record sounds like, but to me, Mingus Dynasty sounds like it has it all.
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Mingus Dynasty is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .