"Wonderland" by Charles Mingus
Iconoclastic bassist and composer Charles Mingus created a lengthy discography of well-known classics. But Wonderland, from the United Artists Jazz series, was an album cover I had not encountered before seeing it in a friend’s trade stack recently. So, of course, you know where it ended up.
Despite some extensive sleeve notes by Nat Hentoff, it’s a bit vague as to the provenance of these cuts, aside from mentioning they were recorded at the Nonagon Art Gallery. Just scanning the lists of albums at Discogs doesn’t turn it up, either. But a deeper search reveals it’s a repackaged reissue of Jazz Portraits, a 1959 UA LP. At least I’ve seen pictures of that before; mystery solved. There is also a 1970s reissue as Wonderland with a third cover variation.
It’s an interesting quintet put together for this recording: regular Mingus drummer Dannie Richmond; pianist Richard Wyands, a familiar name from many jazz sessions from the 1950s-’70s; and a pair of sax players who would shortly go on to lead their own bands, Booker Ervin and John Handy. The saxes stage an epic battle on the frenzied bop number “No Private Income Blues.” But the highlight for me is when Mingus goes on solo journeys, particularly his meditative exploration of the standard “I Can’t Get Started.”
Side note: Two of the three Mingus originals here were written for the John Cassavetes film Shadows, though only one was eventually used in the score. (United Artists Jazz UAJ 14005, mono, 1962).
