Mingus Ah Um

[mjzee]

I think the edited versions were punchier (wasn't Mingus Dynasty also edited?). I had them both on a two-fer called Better Get It In Your Soul, with a beautiful cover photo of Mingus.

[Teasing the Korean]

I think the edited versions were punchier (wasn't Mingus Dynasty also edited?).

Agreed. That's the point. Mingus deliberately recorded more music than he would use.

Why not listen to false starts, mistakes, and between-song-banter too? That's the difference between listening to a session and a finished album.

[JSngry]

"Jazz recordings" should always be straight-up photographs of a live performance?

[Chuck Nessa]

I think the edited versions were punchier (wasn't Mingus Dynasty also edited?).

Agreed. That's the point. Mingus deliberately recorded more music than he would use.

Why not listen to false starts, mistakes, and between-song-banter too? That's the difference between listening to a session and a finished album.

I tend to agree with this. The Mingus Dynasty edits worked for me too. I had a similar disappointment when listening to Monk Live at the It Club on cd - the power of the performances seemed diluted. Sadly, economic circumstances led me to dumping my lps before the new cds arrived. After the fact editing is usually done for a reason. That said, it is interesting to have the "complete" performances for archival purposes.

[JSngry]

Mingus, remember, is a guy who was into overdubbing and shit long before it became commonplace. The studio was, for him, another tool of composing. Editing, restructuring, all that, hey that's part of what composers do.

[Hoppy T. Frog]

"Jazz recordings" should always be straight-up photographs of a live performance?

Don't tell Bob Rusch.

[Chuck Nessa]

[djcavanagh]

Hiroshi Tanno has confirmed that the running time of SICP20090 is 46 mins 34 seconds, which by my reckoning makes it the original version.

Denis

[JohnBlutarski]

Hiroshi Tanno has confirmed that the running time of SICP20090 is 46 mins 34 seconds, which by my reckoning makes it the original version.

Denis

I saw it on the net somewhere for $37.00 ...

Maybe a cheaper US or EU version will be released someday...

JB

[erwbol]

SICP 30239, release date 11 September, 2013.

This Blu-spec 2 contains the original Teo Macero mixed and edited LP version. It is a remaster from 1997. Besides the edits, the mix is different enough from the Wilder remix I'm used to to make this essential. Sound is better than the blue border US eighties CD (noise reduction).

Can anyone recommend a CD containing the LP version of Mingus Dynasty other than a blue border eighties US CD? Dynasty was reissued in Japan February 2014, SICP 4003, but the inclusion of the bonus track Strollin' suggests to me this is the remix.

Edited December 11, 2014 by erwbol

[jazzbo]

I like that Ah Um reissue as well. Good guess on the Dynasty, hard to say for sure what mastering is used. . . .

[Teasing the Korean]

Can anyone tell me if the mixing/mastering on the two-disc Legacy edition - the one with both Ah Um and Dynasty - is different from the mastering on the previous single-disc Legacy edition, and if so, how the two compare?

[erwbol]

Yes, new mastering and mix (?) by Mark Wilder.

1998 20 bit: Digitally remixed and remastered from the original three-track tapes using an original Presto tube tape recorder by Mark Wilder and Rob Schwarz.

2009 Legacy: Remixed and mastered by Mark Wilder, Sony Music Studios, New York City. Mixed from the original three-track tapes on an original Presto tube tape recorder.

The mastering on the The Complete Columbia & RCA Albums Collection is likely the same as the 2009 Legacy. The 2009 Legacy is missing three alternates from Dynasty that were included on Alternate Takes, which is itself included in The Complete Columbia & RCA Albums Collection.

Sound is improved on the 2009 remaster. The Complete Columbia & RCA Albums Collection also contains a new Wilder remaster of Let My Children Hear Music. Mingus And Friends In Concert and Epitaph are by Vic Anesini and Vlado Meller respectively (likely same as the old CDs).

Edited May 22, 2015 by erwbol

[Teasing the Korean]

Thanks. I just picked up the two-disc version and have not had a chance to spin it yet. For some reason, it is fairly pricey on Amazon. Has it gone out of print already?

The way those two descriptions are phrased, I guess there is some ambiguity as to whether it was remixed a second time, or just remastered for the latest edition.

Edited May 22, 2015 by Teasing the Korean

[felser]

The Complete box is $35 for 10 CD's, go for it.

[erwbol]

SICP 30239, release date 11 September, 2013.

This Blu-spec 2 contains the original Teo Macero mixed and edited LP version. It is a remaster from 1997. Besides the edits, the mix is different enough from the Wilder remix I'm used to to make this essential. Sound is better than the blue border US eighties CD (noise reduction).

Can anyone recommend a CD containing the LP version of Mingus Dynasty other than a blue border eighties US CD? Dynasty was reissued in Japan February 2014, SICP 4003, but the inclusion of the bonus track Strollin' suggests to me this is the remix.

I like that Ah Um reissue as well. Good guess on the Dynasty, hard to say for sure what mastering is used. . . .

I recently noticed the Japanese 90s Mastersound mini-LP containing the original Teo Macero mix also had Strollin' as a bonus track. So the 2014 reissue could be the LP mix with the edits intact after all.

I might take a chance on it.