Mingus Big Band Releases “Centennial Sessions, Vol. 2” – No Treble

The Mingus Big Band: The Charles Mingus Centennial Sessions Vol. 2

The Mingus Big Band has been keeping bassist/composer Charles Mingus’ legacy going ever since his passing. The group celebrated what would have been his 100th birthday in 2022 with an album called The Charles Mingus Centennial Sessions Vol. 1, and now the second edition is available.

“Drawn from his catalog of 300+ compositions, highlights on this album include never-before-recorded compositions, new arrangements, vocals and narrations by Charles’ son Eric Mingus, and thirty-four first-class musicians, rotating in Mingus Big Band tradition,” a press release states. “The 2020 week-long sessions were engineered by Rich Keller at Sound on Sound Studios, and directed by co-leaders Alex Foster and Boris Kozlov, the latter playing Mingus’ famous 1927 Ernst Heinrich Roth double bass.”

In addition to Kozlov, bassist Mike Richmond appears on two tracks: “GG Train” and “Farewell Farwell”. Richmond was the original bassist in the Mingus Dynasty bands following the bass great’s death. (Hear from Richmond, Kozlov, and John Benitez in our “Mingus At 100” interview from 2022.)

The album includes Mingus standards like “Peggy’s Blue Skylight” and “Pithecanthropus Erectus,” as well as new arrangements of deeper cuts. Hear Kozlov putting Mingus’ own Roth bass to work on “New York Sketchbook.”