Pithecanthropus Erectus | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 1956 [1] [2] | |||
Recorded | January 30, 1956 | |||
Studio | Audio-Video Studios New York City | |||
Genre | Jazz, post-bop | |||
Length | 36:36 | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Producer | Nesuhi Ertegun | |||
Charles Mingus chronology | ||||
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Pithecanthropus Erectus is a studio album by jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus. It was released in August 1956 through Atlantic Records. [1] [2] Mingus noted that this was the first album where he taught arrangements to his musicians by ear instead of putting the chords and arrangements in writing. [3]
According to Mingus' liner notes, the title song is a ten-minute tone poem, depicting the rise of man from his hominid roots ( Pithecanthropus erectus ) to an eventual downfall due to "his own failure to realize the inevitable emancipation of those he sought to enslave, and his greed in attempting to stand on a false security." The song's title refers to the Java Man fossil, which at the time of its discovery was the oldest human fossil ever found.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [4] |
Tom Hull | A [5] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [6] |
Q | [7] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [8] |
Vibe | (not rated) [9] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave it a maximum four-star rating and included it in its “core collection” of essential recordings, describing it as "One of the truly great modern jazz albums". [6] In the same review, "the all-in ensemble work" in parts of the first track, "Pithecanthropus Erectus", is described as being "absolutely crucial to the development of free collective improvisation in the following decade".
All tracks composed by Charles Mingus except where noted.
Miles Davis and Milt Jackson Quintet/Sextet, also known as Quintet/Sextet is a studio album by trumpeter Miles Davis and vibraphonist Milt Jackson released by Prestige Records in August of 1956. It was recorded on August 5, 1955. Credited to "Miles Davis and Milt Jackson", this was an "all-star" session, and did not feature any of the members of Davis's working group of that time. Alto saxophonist Jackie McLean appears on his own compositions “Dr. Jackle” and “Minor Apprehension”.
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.
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.
Let Freedom Ring is an album by American jazz saxophonist Jackie McLean, recorded in 1962 and released on the Blue Note label. It features McLean in a quartet with pianist Walter Davis Jr., bassist Herbie Lewis and drummer Billy Higgins.
The Clown is an album by Charles Mingus, released in September 1957 on Atlantic Records as SD-1260. It is the follow-up to 1956's Pithecanthropus Erectus and features the improvised narration of Jean Shepherd. A deluxe edition of The Clown was issued in 2000 on Rhino featuring two bonus tracks. All the tracks were recorded on March 12, 1957, except for "The Clown", recorded on February 13 of the same year.
Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus is an album by the jazz double bassist and composer Charles Mingus, recorded in October 1960 and released in December of the same year. The quartet of Mingus, multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy, trumpeter Ted Curson, and drummer Dannie Richmond constituted Mingus' core working band at the time, and had been performing the material on this album for weeks at The Showplace in New York. To recreate this atmosphere, Mingus introduces the songs as if he were speaking to the audience, even admonishing them to not applaud or rattle their glasses. This explains why the recordings on Presents would seemingly give off the illusion of a live album, when in fact it is a studio album.
Blowin' the Blues Away is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver, released on the Blue Note label in 1959, featuring performances by Silver with Blue Mitchell, Junior Cook, Eugene Taylor, and Louis Hayes.
Mingus Moves is an album by the jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus, released in 1973.
Cool Struttin' is an album by jazz pianist Sonny Clark that was released by Blue Note Records in August 1958. Described as an "enduring hard-bop classic" by The New York Times, the album features alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, trumpeter Art Farmer and two members of the Miles Davis Quintet, drummer Philly Joe Jones and bassist Paul Chambers. According to The Stereo Times, the album enjoys "a nearly cult status among hardcore jazz followers", a reputation AllMusic asserts it deserves "for its soul appeal alone".
Mingus at the Bohemia is a live album by Charles Mingus that was recorded at Café Bohemia in New York City on December 23, 1955. It was released in August 1956. Max Roach makes a guest appearance on one track. Other recordings from the same performance were released in 1964 under the title The Charles Mingus Quintet & Max Roach.
A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry is an album by the jazz bassist, composer, and band leader Charles Mingus, released by Bethlehem Records in mid-1959. In spite of the title, the album does not contain any poetry. "Scenes in the City", however, includes narration performed by Mel Stewart and written by actor Lonne Elder with assistance from Langston Hughes. The composition "Duke's Choice" re-appears, in updated form, as "I X Love" on the 1963 album Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus. "Nouroog", "Duke's Choice" and "Slippers" form the basis of the suite "Open Letter to Duke" on Mingus Ah Um.
New Soil is an album by American saxophonist Jackie McLean recorded in 1959 and released on the Blue Note label. It features McLean's quintet with trumpeter Donald Byrd, pianist Walter Davis Jr., bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Pete La Roca.
Pre-Bird is an album by jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus consisting of music that was composed before Mingus first heard Charlie Parker, hence the title Pre-Bird. It was released on Mercury Records in September 1961.
Mal-1 is the debut album by American jazz pianist Mal Waldron. It was recorded in November 1956 and released on the Prestige label in May 1957.
Garden of Eden is an album by jazz drummer Paul Motian recorded in 2004 and released on the ECM label in 2005. It features Motian with a new band consisting of guitarists Ben Monder, Steve Cardenas and Jakob Bro, saxophonists Chris Cheek and Tony Malaby, and bass guitarist Jerome Harris.
2 Trumpets is an album by trumpeters Art Farmer and Donald Byrd, recorded in 1956 and released on the Prestige label. They are joined by Jackie McLean in the front line for the uptempo pieces but have a ballad quartet track apiece.
The Teddy Charles Tentet is a 1956 jazz album featuring a tentet led by multi-instrumentalist Teddy Charles. Critically well received, the album is listed as one of the "Core Collection" albums in The Penguin Guide to Jazz and an essential recording in 2000's The Essential Jazz Records: Modernism to Postmodernism. Released originally in high fidelity vinyl by Atlantic, the album has been reissued on CD and LP multiple times since 2001.
Mingus is an album by the jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus. The album was recorded in October and November 1960 in New York and released in late 1961 on Nat Hentoff's Candid label.
Charles Mingus in Paris: The Complete America Session is a compilation of two albums by American bassist, composer and bandleader Charles Mingus which were recorded in Paris in 1970 and first released on the French America label as Blue Bird and Pithycanthropus Erectus. The compilation was released on the Sunnyside label in 2006 with all the released tracks combined on one CD and a second CD of additional tracks featuring false starts and incomplete takes from the session.
Spirit of Mingusis a live album by soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy and pianist Eric Watson, which was recorded in Paris in 1991 and first released on the Free Lance label in 1992.