| Blues & Roots | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 1960 [1] | |||
| Recorded | February 4, 1959 | |||
| Studio | Atlantic Studios, New York City | |||
| Genre | Hard bop | |||
| Length | 38:49 | |||
| Label | Atlantic SD 1305 | |||
| Producer | Nesuhi Ertegun | |||
| Charles Mingus chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [2] |
| DownBeat |  |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |  [3] |
| Q Magazine | |
Blues & Roots is an album by Charles Mingus, recorded in 1959 and released on the Atlantic label in 1960. It has been reissued on CD by both Atlantic and Rhino.
Mingus explained the origins of this record in the album's liner notes: [4]
This record is unusual— it presents only one part of my musical world, the blues. A year ago, Nesuhi Ertegün suggested that I record an entire blues album in the style of "Haitian Fight Song" (in Atlantic LP 1260), because some people, particularly critics, were saying I didn't swing enough. He wanted to give them a barrage of soul music: churchy, blues, swinging, earthy. I thought it over. I was born swinging and clapped my hands in church as a little boy, but I've grown up and I like to do things other than just swing. But blues can do more than just swing. So I agreed.
— Charles Mingus
The 1998 Rhino CD reissue included these additional tracks:
All tracks composed by Charles Mingus. Recorded February 4, 1959, at Atlantic Studios in New York City.
Atlantic Recording Corporation is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recordings in January 1948, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most important American labels, specializing in jazz, R&B, and soul by Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Ruth Brown and Otis Redding. Its position was greatly improved by its distribution deal with Stax. In 1967, Atlantic became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, now the Warner Music Group, and expanded into rock and pop music with releases by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Led Zeppelin, and Yes.
James Minter Knepper was an American jazz trombonist. In addition to his own recordings as leader, Knepper performed and recorded with Charlie Barnet, Woody Herman, Claude Thornhill, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, Gil Evans, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Lew Tabackin, and, most famously, Charles Mingus in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Knepper died in 2003 of complications of Parkinson's disease.
Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus is a studio album by the American jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus which was released on January 9, 1964.
My Favorite Things is a studio album by the jazz musician John Coltrane. It was released in March 1961 on Atlantic Records. It was the first album to feature Coltrane playing soprano saxophone. An edited version of the title track became a hit single that gained popularity in 1961 on radio. The record became a major commercial success.
The Genius of Ray Charles is a 1959 Ray Charles album, released in October by Atlantic Records, the seventh album since the debut Ray Charles in 1957. The album consists of swinging pop with big band arrangements. It comprises a first half of big band songs and a second half of string-backed ballads. The Genius of Ray Charles sold fewer than 500,000 copies and charted at number 17 on the Billboard 200. "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'" were released as singles in 1959.
Changes One is an album by the jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus, released in 1975.
Mingus Ah Um is a studio album by American jazz musician Charles Mingus which was released in October 1959 by Columbia Records. It was his first album recorded for Columbia. The cover features a painting by S. Neil Fujita. The title is a corruption of an imaginary Latin declension. It is common for Latin students to memorize Latin adjectives by first saying the masculine nominative, then the feminine nominative, and finally the neuter nominative singular —implying a transformation of his name, Mingus, Minga, Mingum. The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013.
Coltrane Plays the Blues is an album of music by the jazz musician John Coltrane. It was released in July 1962 by Atlantic Records. It was recorded at Atlantic Studios during the sessions for My Favorite Things, assembled after Coltrane had stopped recording for the label and was under contract to Impulse Records. Like Prestige Records before them, as Coltrane's fame grew during the 1960s, Atlantic used unissued recordings and released them without either Coltrane's input or approval.
Oh Yeah is a studio album by the American jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus, released in April 1962 by Atlantic Records. It was recorded in 1961, and features Mingus singing on three of the cuts and playing piano throughout.
Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk is a studio album released in 1958 by Atlantic Records. It is a collaboration between the Jazz Messengers, the group led by drummer Art Blakey, and Thelonious Monk on piano.
Coltrane's Sound is an album credited to the jazz musician John Coltrane, recorded in 1960 and released in 1964 on Atlantic Records, catalogue SD 1419. It was recorded at Atlantic Studios during the sessions for My Favorite Things, assembled after Coltrane had stopped recording for the label and was under contract to Impulse! Records. Like Prestige and Blue Note Records before them, as Coltrane's fame grew during the 1960s Atlantic used unissued recordings and released them without either Coltrane's input or approval.
Coltrane Jazz is a studio album by the jazz musician John Coltrane. It was released in early 1961 on Atlantic Records. Most of the album features Coltrane playing with his former Miles Davis bandmates, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb during two sessions in November and December, 1959. The exception is the track "Village Blues", which was recorded October 21, 1960. "Village Blues" comes from the first recording session featuring Coltrane playing with pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones, who toured and recorded with Coltrane as part of his celebrated "classic quartet" from 1960 to 1965.
The Boss of the Blues is a 1956 album by the American singer Big Joe Turner. Originally released on the Atlantic label, the album has been reissued many times on cassette and CD by Atlantic, Rhino and Collectables.
Live in Concert is a live album by Ray Charles released in 1965 by ABC-Paramount Records. The recording was made at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California in September, 1964 following a tour of Japan.
East Coasting is an album by Charles Mingus, recorded and released in late 1957. It was reissued on CD with bonus takes in 1993.
Ahmet Ertegun was a Turkish-American businessman, songwriter, record executive and philanthropist.
Changes Two is an album by Charles Mingus. It was recorded on 27, 28, and 30 December 1974 at Atlantic Studios in New York City—the same sessions which resulted in Mingus's album Changes One. Atlantic Records initially released the record; in 1993, it was issued on CD by Rhino Records.
Charles Mingus and Friends in Concert is a live album by the jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus, recorded at the Philharmonic Hall of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1972 and released on the Columbia label. The CD release added five previously unreleased performances from the concert, but did not include the opening track, Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle Rose", present in the LP version and on former Japanese CD editions.
Beauty Is a Rare Thing: The Complete Atlantic Recordings is a box set by American jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman compiling his master recordings made for Atlantic between 1959 and 1961, released on Rhino Records on November 16, 1993.
Live at the Theatre Boulogne-Billancourt/Paris, Vol. 1 is an album by Mingus Dynasty, billed as Big Band Charlie Mingus.
