Jazz Portraits: Mingus in Wonderland

Jazz Portraits: Mingus in Wonderland is a live album by jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus recorded in 1959 and released on the United Artists label in September of that year.[1][2][3] The original release was titled Jazz Portraits and a subsequent edition titled Wonderland.

Jazz Portraits: Mingus in Wonderland
Live album by
Charles Mingus
ReleasedSeptember 1959[1][2]
RecordedJanuary 16, 1959
GenreJazz
Length44:11
LabelUnited Artists
ProducerAlan Douglas
Charles Mingus chronology
A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry
(1959)		 Jazz Portraits: Mingus in Wonderland
(1959)		 Mingus Ah Um
(1959)
Jazz Portraits Cover
Wonderland Cover

Composition

Both "Alice's Wonderland" and "Nostalgia in Times Square" were originally written for the 1959 John Cassavetes film Shadows as part of a full soundtrack, but Mingus’ music was almost entirely replaced for the final version of the film. A partial reconstruction of the soundtrack was released in 2015 as the compilation album Shadows.[4]

A reworked version of "Nostalgia in Times Square," with vocals by Honi Gordon, was recorded during Mingus' 1959 Mingus Dynasty sessions and included on reissues of that album as a bonus track titled "Strollin'".[5]

Though never a major part of Mingus’ repertoire, "Nostalgia in Times Square" has since become a jazz standard, widely performed and recorded by other musicians.[6] Notably, jazz fusion trio Medeski Martin & Wood have long performed the song, usually as part of a medley with Sun Ra’s “Angel Race.”[7]

Reception

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4 stars, calling the music "advanced bop that looks toward the upcoming innovations of the avant-garde and is frequently quite exciting".[8]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[8]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[9]

Track listing
All compositions by Charles Mingus except as indicated
  1. "Nostalgia in Times Square" – 12:18
  2. "I Can't Get Started" (Vernon Duke, Ira Gershwin) – 10:08
  3. "No Private Income Blues" – 12:51
  4. "Alice's Wonderland" – 8:54
  • Recorded at the Nonagon Art Gallery in New York City on January 16, 1959

Personnel

References
  1. "September Album Releases" (PDF). The Cash Box. The Cash Box Publishing Co. Inc., NY. 19 September 1959. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  2. "Jazz Portraits". The Billboard. The Billboard Publishing Co. 7 September 1959. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  3. Charles Mingus discography accessed June 8, 2011
  4. "Charles Mingus – Shadows". discogs.com. Retrieved on December 27, 2020.
  5. "Charles Mingus – Mingus Dynasty". discogs.com. Retrieved on December 27, 2020.
  6. "Nostalgia in Times Square by Charles Mingus". SecondHandSongs. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  7. Corroto, Mark. "Medeski, Martin & Wood: Free Magic: Live (Review)". All About Jazz. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  8. Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed June 8, 2011
  9. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 140. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
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