Cumbia & Jazz Fusion

Cumbia & Jazz Fusion
Studio album by Charles Mingus
Released	1978 (1978)
Recorded	March 29–31, 1976 at Sound WorkShop and Dirmaphon Studio, Rome, Italy; March 1 & March 10, 1977 in NYC
Genre	Jazz
Length	50:16
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Ilhan Mimaroglu, Daniele Senatore
Charles Mingus chronology
Three or Four Shades of Blues (1977) Cumbia & Jazz Fusion (1978) His Final Work (1979)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[3]
Sounds	[4]
The Village Voice	B+ [5]

Cumbia & Jazz Fusion is an album by Charles Mingus, recorded for the Atlantic label in 1977. It features two extended compositions written for the film Todo Modo by Mingus and performed by large ensembles featuring Jack Walrath, Jimmy Knepper, Paul Jeffrey, Ricky Ford, Dannie Richmond, Candido, Ray Mantilla, George Adams and Danny Mixon. The CD reissue added two solo performances by Mingus on piano.

Critical reception

Village Voice critic Robert Christgau felt Cumbia & Jazz Fusion's loftier compositions suggested Mingus was more of an "important jazz eccentric" rather than a "great": "The 27-minute title fantasia is rich, lively, irreverent, and enjoyable, but it's marred by overly atmospheric Hollywood-at-the-carnival moments, while the kitschy assumed seriousness of 'Music for Todo Modo' almost ruins its fresh big-band colors." ^[5] AllMusic critic Scott Yanow later wrote: "The music is episodic but generally holds its own away from the film". ^[1]

Track listing

All compositions by Charles Mingus

No.	Title	recording date	Length
1.	"Cumbia and Jazz Fusion"	March 10, 1977	28:05
2.	"Music for "Todo Modo""	March 29–31, 1976	22:21
3.	"Wedding March/Slow Waltz"	March 1, 1977	2:04
4.	"Wedding March/Slow Waltz [alternate take]"	March 1, 1977	2:21

Tracks 3 & 4 are bonus tracks on CD.

Personnel

• Charles Mingus: bass, vocals, percussion, arranger
• Jack Walrath: trumpet, percussion (tracks 1 & 2)
• Jimmy Knepper: trombone, bass trombone (track 1)
• Mauricio Smith: flute, piccolo, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone (track 1)
• Paul Jeffrey: oboe, tenor saxophone (track 1)
• Gene Scholtens: bassoon (track 1)
• Gary Anderson: contrabass clarinet, bass clarinet (track 1)
• Ricky Ford: tenor saxophone, percussion (track 1)
• Bob Neloms: piano (track 1)
• Dannie Richmond: drums (tracks 1 & 2)
• Candido: congas (track 1)
• Daniel Gonzales: congas (track 1)
• Ray Mantilla: congas (track 1)
• Alfredo Ramirez: congas (track 1)
• Bradley Cunningham: percussion (track 1)
• Dino Piana: trombone (track 2)
• Anastasio Del Bono: oboe, english horn (track 2)
• Pasquale Sabatelli: bassoon (track 2)
• Roberto Laneri: bass clarinet (track 2)
• Giancarlo Maurino: alto saxophone (uncredited) (track 2)
• Quarto Maltoni: alto saxophone (track 2)
• George Adams: tenor saxophone, alto flute (track 2)
• Danny Mixon: piano, organ (track 2)

References

1. AllMusic Review
2. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1005. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.
3. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 141. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.
4. Evans, Linnet (2 September 1978). "Charles Mingus: Cumbia And Jazz Fusion". Sounds . p. 33.
5. Village Voice review

Further reading

• Schaefer, Samuel Frederic Heutte (2018). 'Castles Made of Sand': Musicians with Complex Racial Identifications in Mid-Twentieth Century American Society (Thesis). ISBN   978-0-438-78151-1. OCLC   1202041282. ProQuest   10978721.
• Cabezas Hernandez, Jorge Eduardo (December 2020). Análisis de recursos y métodos de composición en el jazz colombiano a partir de la música de Primo Paternina, Ben Allison y Juan Manuel Toro[Analysis of resources and composition methods in Colombian jazz from the music of Primo Paternina, Ben Allison and Juan Manuel Toro] (Thesis) (in Spanish). hdl: 10554/52670 . OCLC   1341582616.