Charles Mingus: A Foggy Day

Don't be fooled by the album cover. Max Roach is not on this track. The introduction is promising -- an avant-garde grumbling and rumbling seems to announce the arrival of Free Jazz. Cecil Taylor would not issue his first recording until the following year, and Mal Waldron seems anxious to get the jump on him. But it only lasts twenty seconds. Perhaps the musicians were trying to imitate a foghorn to announce the arrival of their foggy day in London town. The rest of the track is fairly conventional, and one of Mingus's lesser efforts. Those looking for a more invigorating dose of the great bassist should fast forward a few years -- to "Haitian Fight Song" (from 1957) or "Better Git It In Your Soul" (from 1959) for better examples of his artistry.