Tijuana Moods [Bonus Track]

Read About This Recording

Jazz has utilized Latin rhythms on at least an occasional basis since virtually its beginning. W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues" from 1914 used a tango rhythm and "The Peanut Vendor" became a standard by 1931. The mixture of bebop and Cuban rhythms became a reality in 1947 when Dizzy Gillespie had conga master Chano Pozo as a member of his big band. By the 1950s, Afro-Cuban jazz was quite popular. In the early 1960s the combination of gentle Brazilian rhythms with cool jazz became bossa novas. And in the years since, jazz musicians have often utilized melodies, rhythms and instruments from a variety of South and Central American countries.

Charles Mingus, a highly emotional and innovative bassist, bandleader and composer, recorded Tijuana Moods after a memorable visit to Mexico. Long considered one of his most significant and exciting recordings, Tijuana Moods includes such stirring pieces as "Ysabel's Table Dance," "Los Mariachis" and the haunting "Tijuana Gift Shop." Mingus' regular group is augmented by Ysabel Morel on vocals and castanets and the Spanish/Mexican rhythms add a great deal to the music. Trumpeter Clarence Shaw, trombonist Jimmy Knepper and altoist Shafi Hadi are driven to play at their most intense. In addition, this reissue includes "A Colloquial Dream," a memorable story narrated by Lonnie Elder with music by the band.

This exotic and unique recording is highly recommended, a standouts in the career of Charles Mingus.

—Scott Yanow

Quotes

"This is the best record I ever made." —Charles Mingus

"For sheer melodic and rhythmic and structural originality, his compositions may equal anything written in Western music in the twentieth century." —The New Yorker

"Five stars" —Down Beat

Contents

Dizzy Moods; Ysabel's Table Dance; Tijuana Gift Shop; Los Mariachis; Flamingo; A Colloquial Dream (Scenes in the City)*.

(*Bonus track.)

Charles Mingus, Double Bass; Lonnie Elder, Vocals; Frankie Dunlop, Ysabel Morel, Percussion; Shafi Hadi, Alto & Tenor Saxes; Clarence Shaw, Trumpet; Bill Triglia, Piano; Dannie Richmond, Drums; Jimmy Knepper, Trombone.

CD Special Features

A jazz masterpiece!

As essential as Kind of Blue or A Love Supreme

"This is the best record I ever made." —Charles Mingus