Photo by Hans Kumpf
"Tensions" is the perfect name for a Mingus tune. One of the few virtuoso contrabass players in the truest definition of that word, the emotionally tempestuous bassist could goad all manner of sounds from the tension and release of his fingers on strings.
Charles Mingus music was often a hot, sweaty mess of collective improvisation, and as both leader and mad scientist, he often drove the members of his band to the limits of their own potential as improvisers. Listen to the pulse behind the stuttering horns on "Tensions." And that solo? Mercy!
Charles Mingus, Paris 1964 Photo by Guy Le Querrec
