Mingus, Charles
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady
Rare & Collectible Vinyl Records

2011 180gm 2LP, 45rpm remastered reissue from Analogue Productions. Housed in a heavy-duty laminated gatefold. “The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady Is One Of The Greatest Achievements In Orchestration By Any Composer In Jazz History. Charles Mingus Consciously Designed The Six-Part Ballet As His Magnum Opus, And — Implied In His Famous Inclusion Of Liner Notes By His Psychologist — It's As Much An Examination Of His Own Tortured Psyche As It Is A Conceptual Piece About Love And Struggle. It Veers Between So Many Emotions That It Defies Easy Encapsulation; For That Matter, It Can Be Difficult Just To Assimilate In The First Place. Yet The Work Soon Reveals Itself As A Masterpiece Of Rich, Multi-Layered Texture And Swirling Tonal Colors, Manipulated With A Painter's Attention To Detail. Mingus Plays Shifting Rhythms, Moaning Dissonances, And Multiple Lines Off One Another In The Most Complex, Interlaced Fashion He'd Ever Attempted. He Was Sometimes Pigeonholed As A Firebrand, But The Personal Exorcism Of Black Saint Deserves The Reputation — One Needn't Be Able To Follow The Story Line To Hear The Suffering, Mourning, Frustration, And Caged Fury Pouring Out Of The Music. The 11-Piece Group Rehearsed The Original Score During A Village Vanguard Engagement, Where Mingus Allowed The Players To Mold The Music Further; In The Studio, However, His Exacting Perfectionism Made The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady The First Jazz Album To Rely On Overdubbing Technology. The Result Is One Of The High-Water Marks For Avant-Garde Jazz In The '60s And Arguably Mingus' Most Brilliant Moment.” All Music Guide - Steve Huey.