tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post7028264715832811719..comments2024-01-06T18:34:30.188-08:00Comments on I Witness: Mingus Misprized, Duke ReprisedIWitnessEdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18312808828448124509noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-66871607072962482302011-11-15T00:26:30.245-08:002011-11-15T00:26:30.245-08:00Yep. Pull it together at the last minute... or mov...Yep. Pull it together at the last minute... or move on. I've found no text to confirm or explicate, but the outline went something like: <br /><br />Duke signs late '62, A&R starts with flurry of recording in Paris early '63, six or eight albums, but only a couple appear on Reprise during '63-'64 (some nowhere, some in Europe, some to Atlantic instead). Then, though he continues to record or release his own albums on Reprise till, what, early '66, after mid '63 the A&R work seems to stop--at least I find no references to more non-Ducal albums recorded for or submitted to the label.<br /><br />If I'm wrong, I hope some Ellington expert sets the, er, record straight. Maybe the Mosaic box booklet holds some answers as to why the A&R gig ended with no bang and barely a whimper.IWitnessEdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18312808828448124509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-71944773764153186992011-11-14T19:50:40.956-08:002011-11-14T19:50:40.956-08:00Seems like Duke's attitude toward the recordin...Seems like Duke's attitude toward the recording process did not much dovetail w. being an A&R guy (c.f. his comment to Trane about doing another take). He wasn't much for post-production, layering sound and all the recording techniques that were coming to a head during the 60's.Steve Provizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09757505876939504133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-1522220193577393032011-11-13T16:14:02.167-08:002011-11-13T16:14:02.167-08:00Yes, I was winging it without discographic details...Yes, I was winging it without discographic details (release dates only, and Impulse LPs given as '63 and '64), BUT mostly I just didn't explain step by step that the A&R duties ended too soon (though Duke's own albums continued for a couple more years) for him to have worked something out for Mingus. And that maybe the Benjamin LP had unexpected consequences. What the hey, it's all supposition anyway.IWitnessEdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18312808828448124509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-81769318943795272832011-11-13T13:40:17.821-08:002011-11-13T13:40:17.821-08:00"I have sometimes wondered," you write. ..."I have sometimes wondered," you write. "What if Charles Mingus had been without a contract at the time (rather than recording piecemeal for Atlantic and RCA and Impulse)? ... Ellington might even have persuaded Sinatra to give misprized Charles Mingus a chance."<br /><br />Judging from Mingus's discography, it's clear that he was indeed without a contract for most of that time. In fact, Mingus did not record piecemeal for Atlantic and RCA during Duke's 1963-1966 association with Reprise. <i>Oh Yeah</i> (Atlantic) was recorded in 1961 and released in 1962. <i>Tijuana Moods</i> (RCA) was recorded in 1957 and first released in 1962.<br /><br />Following his three Impulse albums, all recorded in 1963, Mingus was a man without a record company until well after Duke's tenure at Reprise ended. So it wasn't a contractual conflict that prevented Duke, in his capacity as A&R man, from recording Mingus during 1964-1966.Alan Kurtzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11649147078397282212noreply@blogger.com