The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is one of the greatest achievements in orchestration by any composer in jazz history. Charles Mingus consciously designed the six-part ballet as his magnum opus, and -- implied in his famous inclusion of liner notes by his psychologist -- it's as much an examination of his own tortured psyche as it is a conceptual piece about love and struggle. It veers between so many emotions that it defies easy encapsulation; for that matter, it can be difficult just to assimilate in the first place. Yet the work soon reveals itself as a masterpiece of rich, multi-layered texture and swirling tonal colors, manipulated with a painter's attention to detail. There are a few stylistic reference points -- Ellington, the contemporary avant-garde, several flamenco guitar breaks -- but the totality is quite unlike what came before it. Mingus relies heavily on the timbral contrasts between expressively vocal-like muted brass, a rumbling mass of low voices (including tuba and baritone sax), and achingly lyrical upper woodwinds, highlighted by altoist Charlie Mariano. Within that framework, Mingus plays shifting rhythms, moaning dissonances, and multiple lines off one another in the most complex, interlaced fashion he'd ever attempted. Mingus was sometimes pigeonholed as a firebrand, but the personal exorcism of Black Saint deserves the reputation -- one needn't be able to follow the story line to hear the suffering, mourning, frustration, and caged fury pouring out of the music. The 11-piece group rehearsed the original score during a Village Vanguard engagement, where Mingus allowed the players to mold the music further; in the studio, however, his exacting perfectionism made The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady the first jazz album to rely on overdubbing technology. The result is one of the high-water marks for avant-garde jazz in the '60s and arguably Mingus' most brilliant moment. - Steve Huey
Primer álbum para el sello Impulse!, grabado el 20/01/1963.
El disco es una obra maestra mingusiana, imagen virtual de Ellington, y contiene todas las esencias de la música de Mingus.
Obra que parece haber sido pensada para la danza, es también una síntesis de toda su obra anterior y sorprende por su estructura, muy similar a la sinfónica.
En las aportaciones de los músicos llama la atención, por un lado, el empleo "español" de la guitarra, que recuerda, en parte, el pasado "chicano" de Mingus, y, sobre todo, el papel solista del saxo alto de Charlie Mariano.
La música presenta constantes cruces entre la tradición europea y el bop, tejido todo ello con el entusiasmo y vigor de la interpretación. Es una verdadera música romántica, escrita de modo exhuberante para la orquesta, en la que destaca sobre todo el trabajo armónico muy cercano a lo modal y, donde, por poner algún pero, quizás se eche en falta un toque melódico más convincente.
De todas formas este álbum es, sin duda, el disco favorito de muchos seguidores de la obra de Mingus.
Conviene, por lo demás, hacer notar que dos de los temas de su siguiente trabajo orquestal -el álbum "Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus"-, "I X Love" y "Celia" fueron grabados en esta misma sesión del 20 de enero de 1963. - Lorenzo Juan Llabres / tomajazz
Tracks
1. Track A - Solo Dancer
2. Track B - Duet Solo Dancers
3. Track C - Group Dancers
4. Mode D - Mode E - Mode F
CHARLIE MARIANO alto saxophone
CHARLES MINGUS bass, piano
DANNIE RICHMOND drums
JAY BERLINER guitar
JAKI BYARD piano
JEREMOE RICHARDSON soprano & baritone sax
DICK HAFER tenor sax, flute
QUENTIN JACKSON trombone
RICHARD WILLIAMS trumpet
ROLF ERICSON trumpet
DON BUTTERFIELD tuba
All music composed by Charles Mingus
Recorded January 20, 1963 New York, NY
Impulse! CIPJ 35 SA