The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is a 1963 jazz composition and album by bassist Charles Mingus. The piece consists of a single six-part suite performed by an eleven-piece band. An intensely emotional work, it displays Mingus' skill as composer, orchestrator, and technician.

Written as a ballet, the work borrows from Ellingtonian and Latin sources, but creates a unique orchestral style that Mingus called "ethnic folk-dance music". The orchestrations (described as "one of the greatest achievements [...] by any composer in jazz history" by the All Music Guide) are rich and multi-layered. Mingus' perfectionism led to extensive use of studio overdubbing techniques, the first for a jazz album.The track A features the virtuoso Don Butterfield (Normaly a tuba performer) playing a contrabass trombone

The album liner notes were provided by Mingus' psychotherapist, Dr. Edmund Pollock.

Reception

• Q (2/96, p.109) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...a mixture of haunting bluesiness, dancing vivacity, and moments of Andalusian heat..."

Track listing

1. "Track A — Solo Dancer" –6:20
   "Stop! Look! and Listen, Sinner Jim Whitney!"
2. "Track B — Duet Solo Dancers" –6:25
   "Hearts' Beat and Shades in Physical Embraces"
3. "Track C — Group Dancers" –7:00
   "(Soul Fusion) Freewoman and Oh, This Freedom's Slave Cries"
4. –17:52
5. :"Mode D — Trio and Group Dancers"
   "Stop! Look! and Sing Songs of Revolutions!"
6. : "Mode E — Single Solos and Group Dance"
   "Saint and Sinner Join in Merriment on Battle Front"
7. : "Mode F — Group and Solo Dance"
   "Of Love, Pain, and Passioned Revolt, then Farewell, My Beloved, 'til It's Freedom Day"

(All songs by Mingus; Bob Hammer helped in music arrangements. Recorded in New York City on 20 January 1963 by Bob Simpson.)

Personnel

• Charles Mingus — bass, piano, leader
• Jerome Richardson — soprano, baritone saxophones, flute
• Charlie Mariano — alto saxophone
• Dick Hafer — tenor saxophone, flute
• Rolf Ericson — trumpet
• Richard Williams — trumpet
• Quentin Jackson — trombone
• Don Butterfield — tuba, contrabass trombone
• Jaki Byard — piano
• Jay Berliner — acoustic guitar
• Dannie Richmond — drums

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Friday February 29, 2008 at 06:29:34 PST (GMT -0800)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation