Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

I tried really hard to get into Jazz last fall. Pictures of jazz musicians alone make me want to like this genre.

Try to tell me that isn't the coolest thing you ever saw. And I didn't even search google longer than 5 seconds to find that.

However, try as I may, I just can not get into jazz. There are a handful of albums I can play in the background as I sit in my smoking chair (which is the name I've given my office chair for the purposes of this fake story) listening to the rain pattering on the window (or the A/C whirring above me) where I think to myself: "All riiiight daddio".

But really, there aren't any albums where I am eagerly looking forward to listening to them. In large part, a lot of jazz just kind of sounds the same. That could be my untrained ears hearing trumpets, saxes, and pianos and not knowing what to listen for, but nevertheless, jazz was forever trapped in the "get-to-know-you" stage and never in the "omg-I-love-this" stage.

That is, everything except The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady by Charles Mingus. I had read online that this was "2nd tier jazz", meaning it's tough to get into unless you have learned to appreciate "tier 1 jazz". For example:

Tier 1: Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Tier 2: Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
Tier 3: Miles Davis - Bitches Brew

While this album is pretty different from any other jazz album I've heard, I don't believe it to be difficult to get into. Unlike most other jazz albums, it has less of an emphasis on solos. Improvisation is all over this album, but everyone is doing it at the same time, which feels more natural and less formulaic. The album has this life about it that isn't replicated on any album I've heard in any genre. The solos this album does have feel planned, and less "mashing on keys and hoping something decent comes out".

If you have any interest in jazz, and especially if you don't, I recommend checking this album out.