Charles Mingus - In Paris: The Complete America Session / 2CD set

2022 Japanese UHQ-CD reissue.

This was recorded on October 31st 1970 in a single, sleepless night, the fleeting space of a session that took place almost undetected, and in a sort of urgent calm. The scene was a deserted Decca studio on the rue Beaujon, a stone's throw from the Champs-Élyséess; the session had been set up (for the America label) at a few hours' notice by Pierre Jaubert, the day after a concert given by the sextet at the TNP, and this particular studio date was long considered minor in the Mingus discography when compared with the masterpieces he achieved in maturity.

And yet, from both a historical and a musical standpoint, this unexpected session was anything but premeditated & undeniably stands apart in the bassist's work; originally released as two records (Pithycanthropus Erectus and Blue Bird), and here reissued for the first time in its entire, intimate dramaturgy, the recordings constitute precious and moving testimony to one of the least-documented periods of his exceptional career; with hindsight, it was a period that saw the decisive moment when, after years of doubt and silence, Mingus found a new confidence and faith in his music; it was the instant when he began his final creative resurrection.

    - Disc 1 -
    1 Memories of San Francisco
    2 Revival of Love Bird
    3 Peggy's Blue Skylight
    4 Love Is a Dangerous Nesse City
    5 Blue Bird
    6 Upright Monkey Man
    - Disc 2 -
    1 Revival of Lovebird (Warm Up & First False Start)
    2 Revival of Lovebird (Second False Start)
    3 Revival of Lovebird (Third False Start)
    4 Revival of Lovebird (Incomplete Take)
    5 Peggie's Blue Skylight (First False Start)
    6 Peggy's Blue Skylight (Second False Start)
    7 Peggy's Blue Skylight (Third False Start & Rehearsal)
    8 Peggy 's Blue Blue Skylight (Another Take)
    9 Blue Bird (Incomplete Take)
    10 Reprise
    11 Love Is a Dangerous Nesse City (First False Start)
    12 Love Is a Dangerous Nesse City (Second False Start)
    13 Upright Monkey Man (Take 1)
    14 Upright Monkey Man (Reprise)
    15 Upright Monkey Man (Rehearsal)
    16 Upright Monkey Man (False Start)
    17 Upright Monkey Man (To the End)
    18 Upright Monkey Man (Explanation By Mingus, Restart)