Unissued Charles Mingus recordings to be released on New Land 4LP box set

Hot on the heels of its critically-lauded Dorothy Ashby box set (see Jazzwise 287), UK reissue specialists New Land are to release another important box set.

Mingus Takes Manhattan collects together Charles Mingus’ run of dates at the world- famous Birdland club in New York from 1961 and 1962, released here officially for the first time ever, in conjunction with the Mingus Estate.

Previously only issued in bootleg form, the recordings feature Mingus in the midst of a highly creative spell. Alternating between bass and piano during these sets and featuring a rotating band of heavy-hitters including Yusef Lateef, Roland Kirk, Jaki Byard, Booker Ervin, Pepper Adams as well as Mingus mainstays Charles McPherson, Dannie Richmond and many others.

Found in a basement in the Bronx, the original reel-to-reel tapes have been cleaned and remastered, presenting these rare recordings in a quality hitherto unheard. The full tracklisting is as follows: LP 1, 21 October 1961 - 24 March 1962 – ‘Nouroog’, ‘Ecclusiastics’, ‘Hog Callin` Blues’, ‘Take The ‘A’ Train’, ‘Fables Of Faubus’, ‘Eat That Chicken’; LP2, 31 March - 5 May 1962 – ‘Monk, Funk Or Vice Versa’, ‘Oh Lord, Don’t Let Them...’, ‘Eat That Chicken’, ‘Reets and I’; LP3, 5–12 May 1962 – ‘Monk, Funk or Vice Versa’, ‘Devil Woman’, ‘Eat That Chicken’, ‘Introduction by Symphony Syd’, ‘Peggy’s Blue Skylight’, ‘Tijuana Table Dance (aka Ysabel’s Table Dance)’, ‘Eat That Chicken’; LP4, 19- 26 October 1962 – ‘The Search (I Can't Get Started)’, ‘Monk, Funk or Vice Versa’, ‘Please Don't Come Back From The Moon’, ‘Eat That Chicken’, ‘Monk, Funk or Vice Versa’, ‘OP’, ‘The Search (I Can't Get Started)’.

Aside from the four LPs, the centre of this package is a 44-page book with a foreword from bassist Christian McBride, a 15,000 word essay from Mingus expert and Jazzwise contributor Brian Priestley as well as a new interview with Charles McPherson, giving context and inside information to the dates and the time. All of this is illustrated with design by Two To Tango studio and rare photographs and ephemera throughout.

McBride says: “These recordings capture a window of time in the life of a jazz legend who was arguably at his creative peak.”

A New Land spokesman adds: “This release is one of historical importance. The tapes were thought lost and recordings never made by an official outlet. We hope you take into consideration while listening that this is not a high-grade audiophile release, it’s an important historical documentation featuring some of the most exciting live jazz recordings ever made. We hope it gives you the same amount of joy as it has us when listening. To be transported to that club in the early 1960s and feel within touching distance of this band is a joyous experience”.

Mingus Takes Manhattan: The Complete Birdland Dates 1961-1962 will be released on 27 October.

Full info and ordering details here: newland.lnk.to/mingusbirdland