“One bitter night between sets at the Five Spot, Charles Mingus told his sidemen to pack their gear and follow him through the icy slush a few blocks to the Nonagon Art Gallery.” (Gene Santoro, Myself When I Am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus)

We received a lot of interest on our recent social media posts about Mingus’ New Year’s Eve engagement at the end of 1958 amid his famed residency at the Five Spot. Sadly, no recordings of those performances are known to exist, but Mingus did document this group on January 16th, 1959, immediately between two sets of music at the Five Spot. It was to be the first of four historic recordings made by the bandleader during jazz’s most famous landmark year. Produced by Nat Hentoff, the album was released by United Artists as Jazz Portraits (later re-titled Jazz Portraits: Mingus In Wonderland). In addition to Mingus on bass, the Jazz Workshop featured John Handy, Booker Ervin, Richard Wyands, and Dannie Richmond.

Two of the Mingus compositions heard here debuted in 1958 as part of the soundtrack for the John Cassavetes film Shadows, though much of the bassist’s contributions were ultimately omitted from the revised 1959 version of the film. At the Nonagon Gallery event, additional songs were performed but left off the album, including “Take the ‘A’ Train,” “Jelly Roll Jollies” (aka “My Jelly Roll Soul”), “Billie’s Bounce,” and “Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting.” Admission to the event was $2, and the musicians were compensated $24.54 apiece. During the editing process, Mingus remarked “You know, I think maybe I’m finally composing.”

(1) Album cover of Jazz Portraits: Mingus in Wonderland, released by Blue Note Records
(2) Charles Mingus, John Handy, Booker Ervin during a performance at the Five Spot, 1958 (Photo: Dennis Stock)
(3) Nonagon Gallery, 1959 (on a different date from the Mingus performance) (Photo: Fred W. McDarrah)