CHARLES MINGUS
Tijuana Moods

RCA/Bluebird

Read the Jazzitude review of Charles Mingus/East Coasting
Read the Jazzitude Review of Charles Mingus/At UCLA

T here has never been an explanation for the fact that the album Mingus described as "the best album I ever made" sat in RCA's vaults from its recording in 1957 until its release in 1962. Mingus believes that had the album been released in 1957 it would have made a star of trumpet player Clarence Shaw, who does play brillliantly and beautifully on the album. In his liner notes, Mingus goes all out to compliment Shaw's playing, particularly his use of space,

TITLE: Tijuana Moods ARTIST: Charles Mingus PERSONNEL: Charles Mingus(leader/bass), Jimmy Knepper(tb), Curtis Porter [Shafti Hadi](as), Clarence Shaw(t), Bill Triglia(p), Danny Richmond(d), Frankie Dunlop(perc.), Ysabel Morel(castanets), Lonnie Elder(voices). TRACK LISTING: 1. Dizzy Moods 2. Ysabel's Table Dance 3. Tijuana Gift Shop 4. Los Mariachis 5. Flamingo 6. Dizzy Moods (alt take) 7. Tijuana Gift Shop (alt take) 8. Los Mariachis (alt take) 9. Flamingo (alt take) Disc 2 contains outtakes and a lost track from the original sessions. Original Release Date: 1962

which Mingus describes as "listening". Mingus' group on this recording is as good as it gets, with standout performances not only from Shaw, but also from trombonist Jimmy Knepper, saxophonist Curtis Porter (Shafti Hadi), pianist Bill Triglia, and drummer Danny Richmond, who Mingus had switched from sax to drums only a month before this recording was made.

As if to make up for its non-timely release of the original Tijuana Moods, RCA, as part of its Bluebird reissue series in the 1970s, released it as New Tijuana Moods with a second album (later issued as a single CD) featuring alternate takes of each track, with the exception of "Ysabel's Table Dance". This had the result of restoring some solos that had been edited to shorten the original recordings, or in some cases allowing us to hear alternate solos that were every bit as good as the original. The edits on the original tracks are not particularly subtle, and it doesn't take too close a listen to hear the cut on Danny Richmond's drum solo in "Dizzy Moods", for example. Now, it's been reissued with a second CD featuring what amounts to a second version of the album. The new, improved Tijuana Moods is what we get on CD, and it is not only an excellent introduction to those not familiar with Mingus, it is an absolutely essential part of any jazz collection.

The album trades on the image of Tijuana as a wide-open border town of tequila, prostitutes, mariachis, hot sun, hot food, and intense living. As Mingus writes: "All the music on this album was written during a very blue period in my life. I was minus a wife, and in flight to forget her with an expected dream in Tijuana. But not even Tijuana could satisfy--despite the bullfight, jai alai, anything that you could imagine in a wild, wide-open town."

While there is some debate over whether such a Tijuana ever actually existed, Mingus creates a vivid tonal picture of just such a place in much the way his idol, Duke Ellington, might have done. We get bluesy themes, frenetic jazz ensemble passages, moody chord voicings, rowdy Latin themes, and intense rhythmic orgies. What's more, Mingus makes this group sound as though it were as big as Ellington's band, despite the fact that there are really only three horns and a rhythm section. This robustness of sound, acheived through horn voicings and colorations, is a Mingus hallmark. One can only marvel at how much sound he created with such a small group, and wonder what he might have done with a larger group to arrange these pieces for.

"Dizzy Moods" opens the album, a tune that utilizes the chord structure of Dizzy Gillespie's "Woody 'n' You". Mingus reportedly sketched this one out in the car on the way to Tijuana, working from the chord structure to create the tune itself. We get the first Clarence Shaw solo here, so spontaneous that it threatens to careen into sloppiness, yet never does. Jimmy Knepper and Curtis Porter (playing tenor, though only alto is mentioned in the credits) play very nice solos as well. The alternate version contains Danny Richmond's full drum solo, which is severly edited on the original track. "Ysabel's Table Dance" is a musical representation of a frenetic striptease, the piano passages "representing the scantily-clad woman spinning from table to table, reaching her hand out for tips, bills, or what-have-you". It utilizes castanets and rhythm to great effect, beginning as a forceful pasa doble, punctuated by Mingus' passionate playing with the bow. The piece becomes more and more frenetic as the horns join in, finally resolving into the aforementioned piano passages and some brilliant bop soloing by Porter/Hafti. "Tijuana Gift Shop" is a brief interlude bringing to mind the chaos of the marketplace, perhaps hinting also at the frenetic traffic of Tijuana.

The final two pieces are at the heart and soul of New Tijuana Moods. "Los Mariachis" is a musical representation of the street musicians found in almost any city in Mexico where there are tourists. The piece begins with a big-band bop segment, followed quickly by a more pensive mood sketched by Mingus on bass, some solos, and finally a Mexican folk song-sounding theme, reminiscent of something like Albert Ayler's "Ghosts". Shaw's solos on this number, both on the orginal and alternate takes, are sublime. In addition, Knepper puts in a good word; his work on this album is consistently among his best recorded work. The final number, "Flamingo" is, in Mingus' words, played "in somewhat the same manner that Ellington treated it in mood and chord structure, brings me back to the wild city in thought though I may be miles away." This is one case where Shaw's work on the alternate take is clearly inferior to his work on the original track--but Knepper plays a sweet statement on the alternate that makes it a completely different track.

My advice is: if you don't yet own any Mingus or are unfamiliar with his work, make this your first stop. It sheds a lot of light on some of his more abstract recordings, and will completely amaze you. If you are familiar with Mingus but not with this album, you really must hear it. It will become one of your favorite jazz albums of all time.