Flowers for a Lady

In honor of Valentine's Day this year, my post today is "Flowers for a Lady," a track off of Charles Mingus' 1974 record Mingus Moves. Incidentally, the track actually is not actually written by Mingus himself - it's written by his saxophonist at the time, George Adams.

I was speaking with a friend yesterday in regards to my MP3some Mingus dilemma. My biggest problem is that Mingus' best work (in my mind) comes off of The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963) and Let My Children Hear Music (1972) - both records that are meant to be experienced as complete works of art. To post a single track from either record, my friend said, would be like "cutting up a child." I heartily agreed. Unless I can find a way to post the entire albums, you will hear no part of either of them here. This will not stop me, however, from very strongly suggesting that you track down both of the records - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady in particular. They will change your preconceived notions of what jazz is and can be.

Mingus Moves is from Mingus' late period. While he's best known for his late 50s/early 60s work with Eric Dolphy, his later work is often overlooked. Though it doesn't contain a lot of the controlled chaos for which he was most famous, Mingus nonetheless continued to put out great material until his death in 1979.

Flowers for a Lady