Jazz Experiments of Charles Mingus

Also available in a 3-pack with A MODERN JAZZ SYMPOSIUM OF MUSIC AND POETRY and EAST COASTING.
Personnel: Charles Mingus (acoustic bass); John LaPorta (alto saxophone, clarinet); Teo Macero (tenor saxophone); Thad Jones (trumpet); Jackson Wiley (cello); Clem De Rosa (drums, percussion).
Recorded in December, 1954. Originally released on Bethlehem (5024). Includes original liner notes by Charles Mingus and reissue liner notes by Joseph F. Laredo.
Digitally remastered by Tom Moulton & Greg Vaughn (Frankford Wayne Mastering Labs, New York).
Originally released in 1955, THE JAZZ EXPERIMENTS... reveals that in some ways classical music is as much of a presence as that of Duke Ellington in Charles Mingus' music. This is not to say that THE JAZZ EXPERIMENTS... isn't jazz; it's Mingus music, with interpretations of classic jazz songs such as "What Is This Thing Called Love" and "Stormy Weather." However certain songs such as "Minor Intrusion" and "Thrice Upon a Theme," have elements not often heard in modern jazz.
Another unusual aspect to this recording is the presence of Jackson Wiley playing cello in this sextet (on this set known as Charlie Mingus and his Modernists), while Mingus plays piano and bass with equal agility. "Thrice Upon a Theme," written for Miles Davis, sounds like an amalgam of classical music mixed with new and old jazz forms, something only a composer of Mingus' stature could successfully accomplish.