Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Charles Mingus: In Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts

Charles Mingus: In Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts

By Mike Jurkovic
April 10, 2025
View read count

Charles Mingus: In Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts

Here, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is some seriously swinging, seriously rowdy

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic
1922 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Mingus. Recorded approximately six months before his fateful diagnosis of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) the bassist deploys a street fighting melange—trumpeter

Jack Walrath

trumpet
b.1946

" data-original-title="" title="">Jack Walrath, tenor saxophonist

Ricky Ford

saxophone, tenor
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Ricky Ford, pianist

Robert Neloms

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Robert Neloms and his wingman, drummer

" data-original-title="" title="">Dannie Richmond—and takes on Buenos Aries with all his righteous force. A celebratory exclusive release for Record Store Day 2025, In Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts is really about as hot, honest and full-blown Mingus as ever there was. And there is plenty out there (take Resonance's first Mingus The Lost Album from Ronnie Scott's, 2022, for starters).

It says in the liners that? "Sue's Changes (Incomplete)" is an excerpt of performance from Buenos Aires on June 3, 1977. That may very well be the case, but this? "Sue's Changes" is a world all its own. It howls. It is street and seraphim. It is a barbershop and church. It calls, responds, cheers and caterwauls. Rushing on the partial success of the fusion-infused Three or Four Shades of Blue (Atlantic, 1977), Mingus takes to the road as he always took to the road: defiantly. The band responds in kind. In spades. Though he is a veteran of Motown,

Pharoah Sanders

saxophone, tenor
1940 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Pharoah Sanders,

Roy Haynes

drums
1926 - 2024

" data-original-title="" title="">Roy Haynes and

Eddie Henderson

trumpet
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Eddie Henderson, the still-somewhat-obscure Neloms takes to the piano chair (succeeding

Don Pullen

piano
1941 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Pullen) for a quixotic dance through

Sy Johnson

composer / conductor
b.1930

" data-original-title="" title="">Sy Johnson's "For Harry Carney." It is a concerted marvel that barely balances Richmond's chill sashay, Walrath's high-flying flashes and Mingus' taunts and exhortations. "For Harry Carney" slippery-slopes into a 22-minute free-fall take on?"Cumbia &? Jazz Fusion 1." "Daddy's little baby loves diamond mines," Mingus growls at the band tightening around him, "Who says mama's little baby likes shortening bread; that's a lie some white man said." "Noddin' Your Head Blues" and "Three or Four Shades of Blue" are crazy, crazy good. Ford blows like

King Curtis

saxophone
1934 - 1971

" data-original-title="" title="">King Curtis during a fabulously feisty "Fables of Faubus."?

Available as limited-edition three-LP and two-CD sets,? In Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts is replete with photos, commentary and provenance from

Zev Feldman

producer

" data-original-title="" title="">Zev Feldman,

Brian Priestley

b.1946

" data-original-title="" title="">Brian Priestley, author of the definitive Mingus: A Critical Biography, new interviews with Walrath and Ford and a first-hand account by Claudio Parisi, excerpted from his book Grandes del jazz internacional en Argentina, 1956-1979 (Gourmet Musical Ediciones, 2019). In Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts makes one wish Record Store Day was every day and twice on Sunday.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

CD1: Introduction; Goodbye Pork Pie Hat; Duke Ellington��s Sound of Love; Noddin�� Ya Head Blues; Three or Four Shades of Blue; Koko/Cherokee; For Harry Carney; Cumbia & Jazz Fusion; Solo Piano Improvisation. CD2: Sue's Changes (Incomplete); Koko/Cherokee/Band Intros; Fables of Faubus; Solo Piano Improvisation.

Personnel

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic

Ricky Ford

saxophone, tenor

Jack Walrath

trumpet

Robert Neloms

piano

Dannie Richmond

drums

Robert Neloms:

piano

Additional Instrumentation

Charles Mingus: piano on CD1 #9, CD2 #4.

Album information

Title: In Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts | Year Released: 2025 | Record Label: Resonance Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Horizon
< Previous

New Releases from Cassani, Cheek, Cl...
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.