#The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

[jazzdailyblog]

Charles Mingus: Jazz Icon and Musical Visionary

Introduction: Charles Mingus, a towering figure in jazz, was more than just a virtuoso bassist and composer—he was a visionary whose music transcended genres and boundaries. Born one hundred and two years ago today on April 22, 1922, in Nogales, Arizona, Mingus grew up in Watts, Los Angeles, where he was exposed to music at an early age. Despite his mother’s insistence on only allowing…

[heartfeltletters-written]

what do YOU know about music?

[diceriadelluntore]

Storia di Musica #279 - Charles Mingus, The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady, 1963

Jimmy Knepper è stato uno dei più grandi trombonisti del jazz. Dopo una straordinaria “gavetta” nei locali più famosi di tutti gli stati uniti negli anni ‘40, suonando nelle più prestigiose orchestre, a metà anni ‘50 ha l’incontro della sua vita, quello con Charles Mingus. Mingus lo scrittura per moltissimi lavori ma, come si è già detto nella storia precedente, Mingus aveva un rapporto quantomeno singolare con i suoi collaboratori: non rare erano le urla durante i concerti perchè non suonavano come voleva lui, le liti, le mani addosso. Ma con Knepper successe qualcosa di inaudito. Inizio anni ‘60, dopo il grande successo di Mingus Ah Um, il grande contrabbassista suona prima con il suo mito Duke Ellington in Money Jungles (1960, immenso capolavoro anche con la collaborazione di Max Roach) e poi inizia una proficua collaborazione con Eric Dolphy, con cui c’era anche una sorta di amicizia spirituale, non nuova nelle relazioni di Mingus ma sempre piuttosto movimentate: faranno insieme un leggendario tour europeo, poi si divisero perchè Dolphy rimarrà nel Vecchio Continente, dove morirà in circostanze mai del tutto chiarite nel 1964 a Berlino, ad appena 36 anni. Knepper lo segue ovunque, e sta preparando con lui i brani per un concerto presso la Town Hall di New York. Parlando del lavoro da fare, Mingus chiese a Knepper di suonare diversamente un assolo, ma al rifiuto di Jimmy, successe l’incredibile: si scaraventò sul trombonista, e con un pugno lo colpì sul viso, rompendogli un dente e rovinandogli l'imboccatura, che per un trombettista significava smettere di suonare come una volta (ci vorranno anni per il ritorno di Knepper al trombone, nonostante ciò dovette cambiare stile e perse per un certo periodo la totale estensione del suo strumento). Knepper non fece finta di niente e lo trascinò in tribunale. Lì successe una cosa che spiega benissimo il carattere del nostro Charles: nonostante il suo avvocato lo supplicasse di stare in silenzio, Mingus sbuffava ogni volta che il Giudice lo definiva musicista jazz, alche Mingus chiede al giudice: “Non mi chiami musicista jazz. Per me la parola jazz significa negro, discriminazione, cittadinanza di serie B e tutta la storia del dover stare in fondo all’autobus”. Fu condannato ad un anno con la condizionale. Ma il rapporto Knepper Mingus non finì certo qui).  Eppure Mingus continua a sperimentare, ed è sempre un grandioso musicista: lo dimostrano dischi come Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus e Oh Yeah (scritti tra il 1960 e il 1961, appena prima della lite con Knepper). Ma qualcosa è rotto, e il famoso concerto per le cui prove picchiò Knepper alla Town Hall fu un fiasco colossale, fu persino fischiato. Mingus sente che è tempo di pensare a sé e fa una decisione straordinaria: sull’orlo di una sorta di crisi personale, di sua spontanea volontà si ricovera al Bellevue Hospital per farsi curare nel reparto psichiatrico. Lì conosce il dottor Edmund Pollock, che diviene il suo psicoterapeuta e che scriverà le note del libretto del disco di oggi, uno dei più grandi capolavori del jazz: The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady. Registrato in una sola, incredibile giornata di registrazioni, il 20 gennaio 1963 a New York con l’ausilio del grande produttore Bob Thiele, Mingus ha in mente un album, parole sue, di ethnic folk-dance music. Con una band di 11 elementi scrive un concerto pensato per un balletto, che piuttosto che alla grazia del corpo e dell’armonia musicale ha una propria e dirompente natura politica, per delineare le tappe della emancipazione afro-americana, diviso in 4 suite (che hanno un titolo ed un sottotitolo e la cui quarta parte ha 3 sotto sezioni), di 40 minuti, dove rielabora la musica pianistica, il blues, brani da dance hall sofisticate, addirittura la musica andalusa in un continuum sonoro senza soluzione di continuità trascinante e incredibilmente emozionante. Solo Dancer accende la miccia, tra una batteria che ispirerà persino la funk music anni ‘70, e un volo di sax leggendario; Duet Solo Dancers ha un interludio clamoroso di chitarra; Trio Dancers è un complesso, e magnifico, gioco tra orchestra e sax trombone, che davvero richiama il tanto odiato free jazz per la sua aerea composizione;  Trio and Group Dancers è l’apoteosi, 18 magici, ipnotici e trascinanti minuti di pura potenza mingusiana, un vulcano in piena, nello stile incredibile e forsennato di un genio. Il Dottor Pollock scrive in copertina:”Mingus ha qualcosa da dire e usa qualsiasi cosa per far interpretare il suo messaggio (…) la sua musica è un appello all’amore, al rispetto, alla reciproca accettazione e comprensione, libertà e amicizia”. Costantemente tra i dischi più belli della storia del jazz, è una parentesi di genio in un periodo di profondissimo disagio: iniziò a litigare con chi lo chiamava Charlie, gli organizzatori, i proprietari dei Club (sfasciò un faro di illuminazione al Village Vanguard che divenne una sorta di reliquia per gli avventori)i critici e ovviamente il free jazz. Per un certo periodo decise di non suonare più, e si rintanò nel suo appartamento: finì per essere sfrattato e lui trasformò quel mesto trasloco in una semidelirante manifestazione affidata ad un cineasta che lo riprendeva (Thomas Reichman) e accompagnata da lettere indirizzate a papa Paolo VI, il Presidente Lyndon Johnson, Charles De Gaulle per accusare l’FBI di averlo sfrattato. La situazione peggiorò moltissimo quando scoprì di avere il morbo di Gerhing, che ben presto lo costrinse alla sedia a rotelle. Tra coloro che lo andarono a trovare, c’era pure un trombettista a cui una volta ruppe un dente. Lo aveva perdonato.

[cantsayidont]

Charles Mingus, THE BLACK SAINT AND THE SINNER LADY, Impulse! AS-35, 1963. Mingus famously asked his psychologist, Edmund Pollock, PhD, to write the liner notes. Pollock's essay begins:

When Mr. Mingus first asked me to write a review of the music he composed for this record, I was astonished and told him so. I said I thought I was competent enough as a psychologist but that my interest in music was only average and without any technical background. Mr. Mingus laughed and said he didn’t care, that if I heard his music I’d understand.

A fair point: He did and he did, or well enough.

[pinemountainobservations]

Observation: RYM Top 100 Album Cover Review #14

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady by Charles Mingus

Out of Rate Your Music’s top albums so far, this is the first one that doesn’t fit into any subgenre within Rock or Hip-Hop. I think there’s probably some very interesting criticism that someone smarter than me could level about how RYM is dominated by mostly male users and their opinions on music. Rock and Hip-Hop are the most popular genres among men on average, so it makes sense that the “greatest albums of all time” according to RYM fall mostly within those genres, even if they are experimental or alternative versions.

Anyways, I don’t really want to write a whole essay dissecting the various flaws of a stupid music rating website, so let’s talk about RYM’s favorite jazz record of all time, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, arranged by Charles Mingus.

This record is great. Of course it is, it's this high for a reason. It’s got a different feel than some of the other jazz albums that I’ll talk about later, Mingus was working with a much larger group than most of his contemporaries and the music ends up exploring many more spaces and feeling a lot larger and grander because of it. Personally, I think I appreciate the spiritual jazz of Pharaoh Sanders and John Coltrane a bit more, but I’m also not a huge jazz-head, and definitely don’t appreciate all the subtleties. I’m okay with that though, I’m sure I’ll get better at it as I listen to more great jazz, and for now I’m fine just sticking to album cover reviews.

So what about that cover? This one is pretty simple, it’s a photograph that almost looks like a painting, with a bit of text and a very plain background. Like a lot of older records, including ones I’ve already reviewed like Abbey Road and Ziggy Stardust, I think my current expectations for design and aesthetic are definitely getting in the way of appreciating this cover for what it was when it was made. But at the same time, I’m only here to give my opinion, so I can only really judge it by my standards. And my standards tell that this album, while it does fall into the “picture of the artist with text” genre of cover, it’s at least a nice and somewhat interesting version of that. The portrait is really cool, Mingus looks very smooth, relaxed but powerful, and it’s a great way to introduce him as the orchestrator of the music that’s to come. The text is alright, I like the font and placement of his name, but the name of the album is in a different, very boring font and I feel like a slightly different placement would make it more readable. The smaller text underneath is in another version of the title text’s font, so we’ve got three different fonts in three different type sizes sitting all right below each other, which is a strange choice. The color choices are nice though, and it's overall not a bad cover. Just kind of boring and with weird text choices. I personally think a more maximalist cover might convey the feeling of the music better, if I hadn’t listened to this I would have guessed that this is just one cool dude playing the saxophone (I know Mingus was a bassist, but that also isn’t conveyed by the cover at all). Bonus points for being a really good portrait and an example of nice photography, but it’s still not my favorite cover.

For the first jazz album in RYM’s top 100, I’m starting off pretty low with a 5/10

[mutar-in-lucertola]

The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady & The Dead & The Truth Adjust, by MORGAN PARKER

For one thing, I hate stillness. On the front porch, waiting, I see an animal I don’t recognize:

feet of a bird, wings of a leaf. The grotesqueness of attachment, the loudness of the woods, I knew it

when I was dead before. I died for my sins and because of this, I am in the woods now,

aching. It is June. I am used to being a certain kind of alone. Soon my photosynthesis

will complete, and I will be the gap between Angela Davis’s teeth. Do you ever

love something so much you become it? Like how when hard rain comes, you learn

quick. You straighten your shoulders and hope this is better than touching.

I say casual death , and the half-moon is my enemy, some uncertain white girl.

I wish I didn’t care. I am myself shaking hands, so subtle no one notices.

Sometimes, it’s my rib cage, or my throat does the same damn thing as my skull,

the little bear inside it. Please don’t make me repeat myself.

[melophobia2013]

[ID:

It is June. I am used to being a certain kind of alone.

It is June. I am tired of being brave.

/end ID]

the black saint & the sinner lady & the dead & the truth, morgan parker // the truth the dead know, anne sexton.

[yankcrime]

I think this guy should die for real

[pato-love]

Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

[faceglitchsworld]

Ofc I want to update my RYM by listening to the 10/10 albums according to AF

[jazzdailyblog]

"Let My Children Hear Music:" Charles Mingus' Masterpiece of Orchestral Jazz

Introduction: Charles Mingus, one of the most innovative and influential composers in jazz history, produced an immense body of work over his career that spanned bebop, hard bop, and avant-garde styles. Yet, of all his creations, “Let My Children Hear Music,” released in 1972, stands out as a monumental testament to his genius. Described by Mingus himself as “the best album I have ever made,”…

[llovelymoonn]

on june

emily dickinson complete poems of emily dickinson: “all these my banners be” (via @soracities​) \\ annette wynne why was june made? \\ pablo neruda one hundred sonnets \\ virginia woolf the waves \\ l.m. montgomery anne of the island (via @metamorphesque​) \\ sylvia plath the unabridged journals of sylvia plath, 1950-1962 \\ mahmoud darwish a river dies of thirst \\ emily dickinson complete poems of emily dickinson: “ourselves were wed one summer--dear--” (via @soracities​) \\ philip larking cut grass \\ morgan parker magical negro: “the black saint & the sinner lady & the dead & the truth”

support this blog

[npuppet]

LaDs rambles #6

Songs/mini playlists I think fit each LI + YouTube links (I don’t have Spotify)

‼️A lot of songs are explicit so listen at your own digression‼️

⭐️ are personal favorites (recommended)

(It starts out with overused Insta songs lol) (I branch into more niche songs out I promise)

Zayne:

Disease by Lady Gaga (obv) (“I could play the doctor, I can cure your disease, If you were a sinner I could make you believe”) (die Astra)

⭐️Digital Silence by Peter McPoland (what if Foreseer was in modern time and was a desperate to warn MC of her future?) (“They’re gonna blind date everyone until you love them too”)

Arcade by Duncan Laurence (“Loving you is a losing game” huh? Man)

Wash. by Bon Iver (“Where ice snaps and the hold clast are known”) (It just fits the calmness he has I dunno)

Changing of the Seasons by Two Door Cinema Club (not because he fell out of love with MC but he doesn’t seem to remember as much as the other LI’s) (“The door is open, you whispered to me, As you stood frozen in deep uncertainty”)

Christmas Kids by Roar (“The Christmas kids were nothing but a gift, And love is a tower where all of us can live”) (just thinking if Zayne did remember)

⭐️Cursed Romantics by Maude Latour (bc who said Zayne can’t be girlypop?) (“‘Cause I’m obsessive when you call me “baby”, Your love is poison and no don’t can save me”)

Heavy Eyes by Zach Bryan (I just know Zayne would have tired eyes if he didn’t deal with his myth trauma right) (“Remember all the days we had, I say it ain’t so bad, Keep those heavy eyes soft and kind”)

⭐️Am I Dreaming by Metro Boomin, A$AP Rocky and Roisee (Dawnbreaker and Zayne) (“One of a kind, one of one, the only one, Got one shot and one chance to take it once”)

Rest of the LI’s under the cut

Caleb:

Fourth of July by Sufjan Stevens (based on Caleb and MC being experimented on and MC dying over and over, tragic and existential) (“What could I have said to raise you from the dead?…And I’m sorry I left, but it was for the best, though it never felt right”) 🙂

⭐️i am not who i was by Chance Peña (“so if I fly to far, Will I still have a place inside your heart?…Will you love me for who I am not who I was”) (it’s him, it’s Caleb)

SPIT IN MY FACE! by ThxSoMch (man will do and tolerate anything to be with MC I mean) (“I don’t know what to say except you’re mine mine mine mine mine”)

⭐️Nobody’s Solider by Hozier (this song fits him like a glove, like his whole deal is that he’s trying to wrestle control back in his life) (“Holding my world together with a bootstring, Living the dream”)

Freaks by Surf Course (after he left MC in the explosion) (“My head is filled with parasites, Black holes cover up my eyes”)

Broken by lovelytheband (“I like that your lonely, Lonely like me, I could be lonely with you”) (our obsessive king)

⭐️Tangerine by Glass Animals (he would get on his knees anyways-) (“You only look at me properly now, When you’re drunk watching movies, Where are you? What happened?”)

Sweet Talk by Saint Motel (at this point I think I’m just giving him a degradation kink…) (“Yeah, well, I’m not scared, I’m not going nowhere, Yeah, you might want me to drop dead, but I dont even care”)

She Said No by BoyWithUke (mmm angsty) (“I don’t blame you, I hate me too, but I can’t, Do a lot to change it or the thoughts in my head”)

Sylus:

Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High by Arctic Monkeys (just based off of reckless MC) (“Incapable of making alright decisions, and having bad ideas”)

⭐️Like Him by Tyler the Creator (but very Dawnbreaker coded too so) (based on when MC got flashbacks in the story with Sylus but still doesn’t remember fully) (“How could I miss something that I’ve never had?”)

MILLION DOLLAR BABY by Tommy Richman (bc why not) (“I could clean up good for you, Oh, I know right from wrong”)

The World We Knew by Frank Sinatra (when MC went on a rampage after Sylus left, she’s real for that) (“Each road we took turned into gold, But the dream was too much for you to hold”)

Used to the Darkness by Des Rocs (just feels like Sylus)

Adventure of a Lifetime by Coldplay (ok but hear me out) (“I’m a dream that died by light of day, Gonna hold up half the sky and say, Only I own me”)

Bury Me Face Down by grandson (vengeful dragon) (“Wanted with a bounty on my head, But somehow someway, I’ma keep moving along”)

⭐️City on a Hill by Mon Rovîa (Sylus trying to comfort MC abt their past) (“Who was by your side, When the fire subsides, And it rains in your head?”)

⭐️Gold by Spandau Ballet (what was going through Sylus’ head when MC started to like him back lol) (“Nothing left to make me feel small, Luck has left me standing so tall”)

Rafayel:

Sex, Drugs, Etc. by Beach Weather (something I think he and MC should listen to on an open hood convertible kind of night by the sea) (“Dressing up for polaroids and cigarettes, Socilaize, romanticize the life”)

Softcore by The Neighborhood (kinda based off of the theory that Rafayel wears safety pins) (“You’ve been my muse for a long time, You get me through every dark night”)

⭐️All I Want by Kodaline (“When you said your last goodbye, I died a little bit inside”) (ow)

Here With Me by d4vd (another slow heartbreak song what’s new) (“I wish I could live through every memory again, Just one more time before we float off in the wind”)

Applause by Lady Gaga (bc I’m on a Lady Gaga binge lol) (“Pop culture was in art, now art’s in pop culture in me!”)

⭐️Blood // Water by grandson (I think alternative fits Rafayel) (“The price of your greed, your son, and your daughter”)

Drama by Spencer Sutherland (Raf is just feeling himself)

Love Me Less by MAX (I think it’s fitting since he’s not as forthright with his underground activities as Sylus is)

Xavier:

I Love You So by The Walters (I think it fits his 5* Outcast’s Voyage and just his story in general) (“I’m going to pack my things and leave you behind, This feelings old, and I know that I’ve made up my mind”)

Army Dreamers by Kate Bush (based on that the people who came with Xavier all had dreams but turned into Wanderers instead) (“We’ve a bunch of purple flowers to decorate a mammy’s hero”)

Towards the Sun by Rihanna (“Shadows chase me far from home, I remember when my heart was filled with gold”) (also funny that the movie this song is from is based on aliens lol)

⭐️When Will I See You Again by Shakka (song is literally made for my poor boy) (“Shooting stars never fly for me, My hearts on Mars, kinda hard to see”)

Alien Boy by Oliver Tree (just bc) (“I still make it work, But it’s overrated and somehow, played out”)

⭐️Are We Ready? (Wreck) by Two Door Cinema Club (I dunno sometimes the lyrics aligned with his story to me) (“I saw the world today, It comes in green and gray”)

Jealous by Eyedress (our jealous possessive king lol)

All LI’s:

Mind Over Matter (Reprise) by Young the Giant

Harpy Hare by Yarlokre (yup)

⭐️Chamber of Reflection by Mac DeMarco

her by JVKE

Again and Again by The Bird and the Bee (need I explain?)

ALL GIRLS ARE THE SAME by RØNIN (lmao)

⭐️Mr. Feel by John Michael Howell

can’t slow down by almost monday (kinda a song I imagine MC, Caleb, and Zayne playing on a roadtrip when they were younger)

Aphrodite by Ethan Gander (yearning my favorite (: )

We’ll Meet again by Very Lynn (obv)

MC lol:

Daydream by Gunter Kallmann Choir (MC and Sylus)

GONE, GONE / THANK YOU by Tyler the Creator (give girl a break yknow??)

Wasted Summers by juju<3 (after Caleb left her in the explosion)

I wanna be your lover by €CHO€D 4W4Y (yessir)

⭐️Apple by Charli xcx (once delulu, always delulu)

Sunshine by OneRepublic

Sick of Being Young by Krooked Kings

Feel free to leave ur songs u attribute to the LI’s ((:

[carnalhaus]

ooh I am intrigued by dove.... particularly in the significance behind the bulletproof wing tattoo and her rituals, excited to learn more!

i think i can actually talk about dove a bit because im not looking to expand on her story, deathblow, for quite a while.

dove has a very lonely existence. she was born and raised by her mom in the mountains of north jersey, and she used to have an older sister until she was 12. sort of a blue collar woman, worked as a contractor to pay for college in new york. now she’s a journalist who focuses on cases of missing women and girls, and she hasn’t been home in a very long time.

dove drives a big truck and she only smokes virginia slims because it makes her feel like a proper lady. all her clothes are men’s, twice her size, and stained with paint. lots of camo, big jackets, and heavy work boots. she never ever cuts her hair and she has a habit of clicking her jaw and cracking her knuckles.

a lot of the inspiration for her story came from longlegs and sharp objects, if that gives you any ideas.

as for her tattoos, she’s completely covered in them. aside from the wings (she takes her name very literally, everyone does), every tattoo she has is just words. here’s a few off the top of my head:

text on both hands, on her index and thumb “starve the ego” on the left “feed the soul” on the right

“feel” written on her right palm, “pain” written on her left (left handed)

“only fear god only fear god” on the back of her right leg

“for god so loved the world” on the back of her left leg

“every saint has a past” on her left arm

“every sinner as a future” on her right arm

“pain into purpose” above her bikini line

“punisher” on her chest

“forgive” covering her whole left side

“Dove looks like she’s been scrawled on with fountain pen, inky black twisting over her skin. Her mom always told her she was so forgetful, wrote phone numbers on her wrist and grocery lists on her forearm to hammer it in her head. At sixteen, she picked up the habit too. Bulletproof punisher. Starve the ego, feed the soul. Feel pain. Pain into purpose. Forgive. Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future. Only fear God, only fear God, for God so loved the world. She twists her limbs and strains her neck trying to read them all in the bathroom stall, reading upside down, backwards, and dizzy. It distracts her from the nausea, and she grinds her jaw to dust all the while.”

[rewhitehaus]

the music i listened to in february

releases i listened to for the first time this month:

2/1 - oh my god elephant by oh my god elephant

2/1 - live at kexp by parenthetical girls

2/2 - he poos clouds by final fantasy

2/3 - apologies to the queen mary by wolf parade

2/4 - ghost glacier by breathe owl breathe

2/5 - demos for the dreaming by parenthetical girls

2/5 - the black saint and the sinner lady by mingus

2/5 - mysterium mysterium by dennis driscoll

2/6 - poor aim: love songs by the blow

2/9 - sleater-kinney by sleater-kinney

2/10 - the concussive caress... by the blow

2/11 - super warren mmiv by yacht

2/12 - look for it in the sky it will always be there by get the hell out of the way of the volcano

2/13 - hi, how are you by daniel johnston

2/13 - paper television by the blow

2/14 - romance conflict adventure by best friends forever

2/14 - phonetics on and on by horsegirl

2/17 - window by the microphones

2/17 - bonus album by the blow

2/17 - have one on me by joanna newsom

2/19 - 1000 variations on the same song by frog

2/20 - it's like our little machine by foot ox

2/21 - bits + bobs from the flower patch vol 1 by kitty craft

2/22 - the bird who continues to eat the rabbit's flower by of montreal

2/24 - clues by clues

2/25 - a portable model of by joan of arc

2/26 - the last letter by the receptionists

[projazznet]

Charles Mingus ‎– The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is a studio album by Charles Mingus. It was recorded on January 20, 1963, and released in July of that year by Impulse! Records. The album comprises a single continuous composition—partially written as a ballet—divided into four tracks and six movements. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest jazz records of all time.

Charles Mingus – double bass, piano, composer Jerome Richardson – soprano and baritone saxophone, flute Charlie Mariano – alto saxophone Dick Hafer – tenor saxophone, flute Rolf Ericson – trumpet Richard Williams – trumpet Quentin Jackson – trombone Don Butterfield – tuba, contrabass trombone Jaki Byard – piano Jay Berliner – Classical guitar Dannie Richmond – drums Bob Hammer – arranger