Mingus, Charles – “Mingus Ah Um (Legacy Edition)” – [Columbia Records (Jazz)]

Re-issue of Mingus??? landmark 1959 recordings that were produced by Teo Macero at Columbia.

Notes:
- The title of Mingus Ah Um is a riff on a Latin adjective study form: masculine nominative singular form (usually ending in “-us”), then the feminine nominative singular ending (“-a”), and finally the neuter nominative singular ending (“-um”).
- ???Pork Pie Hat??? was sax great Lester Young who had died recently (March 1959).
- ???Fables of Faubus??? (originally without lyrics) about Arkansas Governor Faubus whose 1957 stand against integration of Little Rock Schools caused Eisenhower to send in the National Guard.
- Pianist Horace Parlan had polio as a child ??? the crippling of his right hand led to his strong left hand sound.

Fine work from all, Ervin, Handy, and Hadi on sax, Dennis and Knepper on trombone, Parlan on piano – and does a rhythm section get any better than Mingus on bass and Dannie Richmond on drums?