Charles Mingus: The Lost Album From Ronnie Scott’s | CD, Resonance

A volcanic, never-before-heard 1972 club performance by bassist-composer Charles Mingus’ powerful sextet. The live set, comprising nearly two-and-a-half hours of music, was professionally recorded on eight-track tapes via a mobile recording truck on Aug. 14-15, 1972. However, the performance went unreleased, for Mingus – along with every other top jazz musician on the Columbia roster except for Miles Davis – was dropped by the label in the spring of 1973. The present release is completely authorized by Jazz Workshop, Inc., which controls Mingus’ music.

Resonance co-president Zev Feldman, who co-produced the Scott’s material for release with David Weiss, says, “This is a lost chapter in Mingus’s history, originally intended to be an official album release by Mingus that never materialized. Now, we’re thrilled to be able to bring this recording to light for the whole world to hear in all its musical and sonic glory. It’s especially exciting to be celebrating Mingus with this release in his centennial year.”

A statement in the Resonance collection from Jazz Workshop, Inc. says, “In Sue Mingus’s memoir, Tonight at Noon, she recalls receiving the extraordinary tapes [the band] had recorded; the reels remained in the Mingus vault, untouched until now. It is our honor, forty-nine years later, to present, with Resonance Records, this historic performance.”