Astral Weeks (Charles Mingus album)
Encyclopedia
Astral Weeks is an album by Charles Mingus
.
It is an unauthorized "bootleg"
recorded live in Copenhagen
, on April 14, 1964. during Mingus' European tour in that month. The performance was provided by a sextet
of jazz
musicians, led by bassist
Charles Mingus
, from the United States
. It included:
The music was originally released as a vinyl L.P.
on the Moon label (mlp016-1) but the date of this first release is not well documented. This L.P. is now a very rare item. The work was re-released in 1990 as a compact disc
, also on the Moon label (MCD 016-2). There may have been subsequent re-releases. Mingus' Astral Weeks contains only two tracks: "Fables of Faubus
" and "Meditations", although the full performance of his group's music that day also included other compositions that are absent from the Moon releases.
How it came to pass that Mingus' Astral Weeks (recorded 1964) and Van Morrison
's famous album Astral Weeks
(recorded 1968) have the same title is a matter of speculation.
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
.
It is an unauthorized "bootleg"
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
recorded live in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, on April 14, 1964. during Mingus' European tour in that month. The performance was provided by a sextet
Sextet
A sextet is a formation containing exactly six members. It is commonly associated with vocal or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six similar or related objects are considered a single unit....
of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musicians, led by bassist
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
, from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It included:
- alto saxophone, flute, bass clarinet: Eric DolphyEric DolphyEric Allan Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and bass clarinetist. On a few occasions he also played the clarinet and baritone saxophone. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the 1960s...
- tenor saxophone: Clifford JordanClifford JordanClifford Laconia Jordan was a jazz saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after which he recorded three albums for Blue Note. He also recorded with Horace Silver, J.J. Johnson, Kenny...
- piano: Jaki ByardJaki ByardJaki Byard was an American jazz pianist and composer who also played trumpet and saxophone, among several other instruments. He was noteworthy for his eclectic style, incorporating everything from ragtime and stride to free jazz...
- trumpet: Johnny ColesJohnny ColesJohnny Coles was an American jazz trumpeter.Coles spent his early career playing with R&B groups, including those of Eddie Vinson , Bull Moose Jackson , and Earl Bostic...
- drums: Dannie RichmondDannie RichmondDannie Richmond was an American drummer who was best known among jazz fans for his work with Charles Mingus, and among pop fans for his work with Joe Cocker, Elton John and Mark-Almond....
The music was originally released as a vinyl L.P.
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
on the Moon label (mlp016-1) but the date of this first release is not well documented. This L.P. is now a very rare item. The work was re-released in 1990 as a compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, also on the Moon label (MCD 016-2). There may have been subsequent re-releases. Mingus' Astral Weeks contains only two tracks: "Fables of Faubus
Fables of Faubus
"Fables of Faubus" is a song composed by jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus. One of Mingus' most explicitly political works, the song was written as a direct protest against Arkansas governor Orval E...
" and "Meditations", although the full performance of his group's music that day also included other compositions that are absent from the Moon releases.
How it came to pass that Mingus' Astral Weeks (recorded 1964) and Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
's famous album Astral Weeks
Astral Weeks
Astral Weeks is the second solo album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in November 1968 on Warner Bros. Records. It was Morrison's first album after Warner Bros. had been able to free him from his contract with Bang Records...
(recorded 1968) have the same title is a matter of speculation.