CHARLES MINGUS (1922 – 1979)
At the end of the Fifties, hard bop was something else looking for a way out. The inexorable cycle of avant-garde trends needed renewal. These were years when both sides of the Atlantic saw wide-reaching deconstruction in philosophy, painting and music. Everything that seemed to belong to a healthy, normal, established order was seen with the most scrupulous scepticism. In the history of art, successive pivotal years have always had an artificial aspect while at the same time they have revealed the state of an art that would define a new aesthetic. 1913… 1922 … 1959 … The Shape of Jazz to Come, Kind of Blue, Time Out, Ah Um … When creative minds decoded the structures of an art that was current, it was time to discover new ones. Charles Mingus was one of those who deconstructed, a creator and inventor who marked out a path for the other artists to come. The pieces gathered in this album bear witness to his creative abilities and also to his outrageousness. Each of them connects hard bop with the jazz of the Sixties. Jazz beyond the norm, as was his own temperament.
A la fin des années cinquante, le hard bop, lui aussi cherche une porte de sortie. Le cycle des avant-gardes inexorablement a besoin de nouveau. De part et d’autre de l’Atlantique, on déconstruit beaucoup à la fin des années cinquante, en philosophie, en peinture, en musique. Tout ce qui paraît établi, sain et normal doit être regardé avec le plus scrupuleux scepticisme. 1959 est une année charnière, et Charles Mingus y participe largement avec son album Ah Um. La succession, dans l’histoire de l’art, des années charnières a toujours un aspect artificiel et en même temps révèle un état de l’art qui définit toujours une nouvelle esthétique. 1913… 1922 … 1959 … The Shape of Jazz to Come, Kind of Blue, Time Out, Ah Um … Lorsque les esprits créateurs ont décodé les structures de l’art en cours, il est temps d’en découvrir de nouvelles. Charles Mingus fait partie de la catégorie des déconstructeurs, des créateurs et des inventeurs qui balisent le chemin pour les artistes à venir. Les œuvres réunies dans cet album sont les témoins de sa capacité créatrice et de sa démesure, elles sont le trait d’union entre le hard-bop et le jazz des années soixante. Un jazz hors norme, à la mesure de son tempérament.
The history of music shows us that different kinds and forms follow each other. And that the latest trend overshadows the one that came before it. Today it's difficult to say exactly which trend dominates, as there are so many music currents that overlap and intersect. Mainstream exists no longer. Yet one thing is certain: each music form is built on the music that precedes it. There would be no jazz without classical music, no rock without blues, no rock without jazz, no rap without soul music, no sampling without the riffs of either soul or rock… and therefore, inside each genre you find different chapters in the history of music. And that is why it is so important to understand their origins: they shed the light that is necessary for an understanding of the music born every day.
The richness of jazz lies at the origin of so much music today that it is essential to discover this creative wealth. The Essential Works of Masters of Jazz bring to light those 20th century creations that still exert an influence on the majority of musicians today — whether they are aware of it or not.
The Essential Works of Masters of Jazz gather the fundamental creations of the music of today.