Wrong Ring, Wrong Classification
Unfortunately, Charles Mingus' death was of the kind that allows for considerable advance notice. It also coincided with a Long Awaited, Highly Publicized, Major Project from Joni Mitchell, an album of Mitchell performing her lyrics to Mingus tunes, some of them written especially for her.
Wrong Ring, Wrong Classification
RECORDS
JONI MITCHELL
Mingus
(Asylum)
CHARLES MINGUS
Passions of a Man
(Columbia)
Nostalgia in Times Square
(Atlantic)
by Joe Goldberg
Unfortunately, Charles Mingus' death was of the kind that allows for considerable advance notice. It also coincided with a Long Awaited, Highly Publicized, Major Project from Joni Mitchell, an album of Mitchell performing her lyrics to Mingus tunes, some of them written especially for her. Mingus is said to have originated the project. He was a shrewd enough publicist to know that a Mitchell album would sell far better than any of his, and probably attract attention to his other recorded work, much of which was out of print. And then, of course, he pulled the greatest publicity stunt of all.
Now that Mingus is dead, and there are articles in Rolling Stone and more likely places about how we knew how great he was all along, he is being canonized as one of the great jazz composers. I doubt that assessment will outlast the current rush of interest.