A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry is an album by jazz bassist Charles Mingus. In spite of the title, the album does not contain any poetry. "Scenes in the City", however, includes narration performed by Melvin Stewart and written by actor Lonne Elder with assistance from Langston Hughes. The composition "Duke's Choice" re-appears, in updated form, as "I X Love" on the 1963 album Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus. "Nouroog", "Duke's Choice" and "Slippers" form the basis of the suite "Open Letter to Duke" on Mingus Ah Um. The Penguin Guide to Jazz gives the album a three-star review (of a possible four stars), and describes it as "an opportunity for Mingus to experiment with texts and with pure sound". The Penguin editors furthermore cite Clarence Shaw's performance on "New York Sketchbook" as "the best trumpet heard on a Mingus album for some time before or since".
Read more about A Modern Jazz Symposium Of Music And Poetry: Track Listing, Personnel
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