Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Charles Mingus
Bassist Charles Mingus was known for his hot-headed behavior and outrageous statements, but those extracurriculars are secondary to the magical music he created. This compilation is part of the 22-CD single-artist series that is the bulk of the musical component for Ken Burns's documentaryJazz. Featuring nine tracks, this is an accurate but thumbnail profile of one of jazz's most complex and gifted musicians. Many will remember the incorporation of "Haitian Fight Song" as the soundtrack to a VW car advertisement, but the sentimental beauty of "Goodbye, Porkpie Hat," the urgency of "Better Get Hit in Your Soul," and the cover ofEllington's "Mood Indigo" reveal a musical portrait that is strikingly broad and beautiful. More varied in his influences than many jazzmen, Mingus incorporated such disparate influences as Ellington, gospel, Mexican music, Dixieland, European masters, and even politics. Probably the most challenging of bop greats, Charles Mingus is an iconoclastic icon whose music never severed its tie with its roots, even as he continually broke new ground.--Tad Hendrickson