Charles Mingus - The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady - 180g Vinyl LP

2023 reissue

 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... one of the high-water marks for avant-garde jazz in the '60s and arguably Mingus' most brilliant moment.
    
Steve Huey, AllMusic

Musicians
Charles Mingus     double bass, piano
Jerome Richardson     soprano & baritone saxophone, 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 Bayard     piano
Jay Berliner     classical guitar
Dannie Richmond     drums

Selections
Side A:

    Solo Dancer (Stop! And Listen, Sinner Jim Whitney!)
    Duet Solo Dancers (Heart's Beat And Shades In Physical Embraces)
    Group Dancers ([Soul Fusion] Freewoman And Oh This Freedom's Slave Cries)

Side B:

    Trio And Group Dancers (Stop! Look! And Sing Songs Of Revolutions!)
    Single Solos And Group Dance (Saint And Sinner Join In Merriment On Battle Front)
    Group And Solo Dance (Of Love, Pain, And Passioned Revolt, Then Farewell, My Beloved, 'Til It's Freedom Day)