''Mingus Dynasty'' is a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

album by Charles Mingus, recorded in 1959 and released on Columbia Records in May 1960. It is a companion album to his 1959 record, ''

Mingus Ah Um ''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 co ...

'', and was inducted in the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

in 1999. The title alludes to Mingus's ancestry which was partially Chinese. Tracks 1, 3, 4 and 5 were released in their unedited form in 1979 on vinyl and in 1999 on CD. The cuts amount to about 8 minutes.

Track listing

''All compositions by Charles Mingus except where noted.'' # "Slop" – 6:16 # "Diane" – 7:32 # "Song With Orange" – 6:50 # "Gunslinging Bird" ''(Originally titled "If

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

Were a Gunslinger, There'd Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats")'' – 5:14 # "

Things Ain't What They Used to Be "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" is a 1942 jazz standard with music by Mercer Ellington and lyrics by Ted Persons. Background In 1941 there was a strike against the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, of which Duke Elling ...

" (

Mercer Ellington Mercer Kennedy Ellington (March 11, 1919 – February 8, 1996) was an American musician, composer, and arranger. His father was Duke Ellington, whose band Mercer led for 20 years after his father's death. Biography Early life and education Ellin ...

) – 7:36 # "Far Wells, Mill Valley" – 6:14 # "New Now Know How" – 4:13 # " Mood Indigo" ( Barney Bigard, Duke Ellington) – 8:13 # "Put Me in That Dungeon" – 2:53 # "Strollin'" ''(Originally titled "Nostalgia in Times Square")'' (Mingus, George Gordon) – 4:33 onus track on CD

Personnel

* Charles Mingus – bass *

John Handy John Richard Handy III (born February 3, 1933) is an American jazz musician most commonly associated with the alto saxophone. He also sings and plays the tenor and baritone saxophone, saxello, clarinet, and oboe. Biography Handy was born in ...

–

alto sax The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B ten ...

* Booker Ervin –

tenor sax The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the Alto saxophone, alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key ...

* Benny Golson – tenor sax (2, 3, 4, 6, 10) *

Jerome Richardson Jerome Richardson (November 15, 1920 – June 23, 2000) was an American jazz musician, tenor saxophonist, and flute player, who also played soprano sax, alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto flute and piccolo. He played with C ...

–

baritone sax The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

(2, 3, 4, 6, 10), flute (2) * Richard Williams –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

(2, 3, 4, 6, 10) *

Don Ellis Donald Johnson Ellis (July 25, 1934 – December 17, 1978) was an American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer, and bandleader. He is best known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of time signatures. Later in his lif ...

– trumpet (1, 5, 8, 9) *

Jimmy Knepper James Minter Knepper (November 22, 1927 – June 14, 2003) 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 Goo ...

–

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

Roland Hanna Roland Pembroke Hanna (February 10, 1932 – November 13, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and teacher. Biography Hanna studied classical piano from the age of 11, but was strongly interested in jazz, having been introduced to i ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9) * Nico Bunink – piano (7, 10) *

Dannie Richmond Charles Daniel Richmond (December 15, 1931 – March 16, 1988) was an American jazz drummer who is best known for his work with Charles Mingus. He also worked with Joe Cocker, Elton John and Mark-Almond. Biography Richmond was born Charles ...

– drums *

Teddy Charles Teddy Charles (April 13, 1928 – April 16, 2012) was an American jazz musician and composer, whose instruments were the vibraphone, piano, and drums. Career Born Theodore Charles Cohen in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, United States, he ...

– vibes (2, 3, 4, 6) * Maurice Brown –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

(2, 9) * Seymour Barab – cello (2, 9) *

Honi Gordon Honi Gordon (sometimes Honey Gordon) was a jazz vocalist. Career Honi Gordon sang as a member of the Gordons (with her father and two brothers) in the early 1950s.Henderson, Ale"Honi Gordon" AllMusic. Retrieved June 4, 2017. Her first recordings, ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

(10)

50th Anniversary Legacy Edition

In 2009 Sony'
Legacy Recordings
released a special 2-disc 50th Anniversary Edition of Mingus's seminal 1959 album ''

'' that also includes ''Mingus Dynasty'' in its entirety on the second disc.Album Review – Mingus Ah Um: Legacy Edition. Pitchfork.com
Accessed: January 11, 2009

References

Charles Mingus albums 1960 albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Teo Macero Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients {{1950s-jazz-album-stub