Charles Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (Acoustic Sounds Series)

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Mingus's second Impulse! album, released in 1963, was another large-ensemble masterpiece featuring two of the bassist/bandleader's greatest compositions - "Celia" and "Better Get Hit In Yo' Soul" - plus a famous version of Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo".
Steve Huey of AllMusic writes, "Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus is sort of a 'greatest hits revisited' record, as the bassist revamps or tinkers with some of his best-known works. The titles are altered as well - 'II B.S.' is basically 'Haitian Fight Song' (this is the version used in the late-'90s car commercial); 'Theme for Lester Young' is 'Goodbye Pork Pie Hat'; 'Better Get Hit in Your Soul' adds a new ending, but just one letter to the title; 'Hora Decubitus' is a growling overhaul of 'E's Flat Ah's Flat Too'; and 'I X Love' modifies 'Nouroog,' which was part of 'Open Letter to Duke.' There's also a cover of Duke Ellington's 'Mood Indigo,' leaving just one new composition, 'Celia.'"
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With the ostensible shortage of ideas, what exactly makes this a significant Mingus effort? The answer is that the 11-piece bands assembled here (slightly different for the two separate recording sessions) are among Mingus' finest, featuring some of the key personnel (Eric Dolphy, pianist Jaki Byard) that would make up the legendary quintet/sextet with which Mingus toured Europe in 1964. And they simply burn, blasting through versions that equal and often surpass the originals - which is, of course, no small feat. This was Mingus' last major statement for quite some time, and aside from a solo piano album and a series of live recordings from the 1964 tour, also his last album until 1970. It closes out the most productive and significant chapter of his career, and one of the most fertile, inventive hot streaks of any composer in jazz history. - Steve Huey, AllMusic
"The album features the two sides of Mingus' compositional genius: the beautiful balladry that I always feel has a bit of a film-noir feel to it, alongside those joyous upbeat numbers that are filled with an organized chaos that categorizes much of the bassist's best work. ... Throw in the fact that it also features Jaki Byard (who is just phenomenal on this recording and remains criminally underrated), Booker Ervin, Dannie Richmond and Eric Dolphy and you have some of Mingus' finest sidemen driving his compositions to the fantastical places they seemed preordained to go. ... Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus is a record that has more than stood the test of time and is an everlasting testament to the talents of Mingus and the players who had the ability to follow his musical vision." — The Jazz Record
Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus was Charles Mingus' last major studio recording of the 1960s (the solo Mingus Plays Piano would also be released the same year in 1964) and it's a real treasure in the great jazz bassist's discography
Two of the tracks ("Celia" and "I X Love") were recorded at the sessions for The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady, while the rest were laid down eight months later with a group that included Booker Ervin, Eric Dolphy and Jaki Byard (Byard also played on the two earlier tracks). Both sessions featured groups of 11 players, all of whom were in top form in performing Mingus' notoriously complex compositions, writes jazzrecord.com.
All but two tracks on Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus were re-interpretations of songs from the bassist's earlier catalog, only "Celia" rates as a new original number, and "Mood Indigo" is a cover of the famous tune by Mingus's hero Duke Ellington. If you happen to have lost your Mingus decoder ring, the remaining tracks correlate to their past counterparts as such:
"II B.S." = "Haitian Fight Song"
"I X Love" = "Nouroog"
"Better Get Hit In Yo' Soul" = "Better Git It In Yo' Soul"
"Theme For Lester Young" = "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat"
"Hora Decubitus" = "E's Flat Ah's Flat Too"
For Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus Mingus collaborated with arranger/orchestrator Bob Hammer to score the music for the large ensemble of brass and saxophones. Recorded January 20 and September 20, 1963 in New York City.
Mingus's second Impulse! album, released in 1963, was another large-ensemble masterpiece featuring two of the bassist/bandleader's greatest compositions - "Celia" and "Better Get Hit In Yo' Soul" - plus a famous version of Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo".
Steve Huey of AllMusic writes, "Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus is sort of a 'greatest hits revisited' record, as the bassist revamps or tinkers with some of his best-known works. The titles are altered as well - 'II B.S.' is basically 'Haitian Fight Song' (this is the version used in the late-'90s car commercial); 'Theme for Lester Young' is 'Goodbye Pork Pie Hat'; 'Better Get Hit in Your Soul' adds a new ending, but just one letter to the title; 'Hora Decubitus' is a growling overhaul of 'E's Flat Ah's Flat Too'; and 'I X Love' modifies 'Nouroog,' which was part of 'Open Letter to Duke.' There's also a cover of Duke Ellington's 'Mood Indigo,' leaving just one new composition, 'Celia.'"