35. The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady - Charles Mingus (1963)

So once again Chloe and I have an album that we know little to nothing about. Furthermore, my knowledge of Jazz would certainly fall into the 'limited' section, as the only album of the genre I own is Blue Train by John Coltrane. But I am a big prog fan, so I had pretty high expectations that this would be a type of music that would appeal.

After the first couple of listens, I honestly thought that this would be an album I would really, really like. There's an intensity to the playing from all instruments that draws you in, and there is a real assortment of rhythms and melodies, as you would expect, that you find yourself humming snippets of a few hours later. Mingus is clearly obscenely talented, and the orchestration of the pieces is very impressive, to a lay person.

Over the week though, I didn't really feel that the album grew on me particularly. Perhaps saturating oneself in one album from a genre you don't know is not the best way to truly enjoy it. There are parts of the album that really stand out, like the hectic, frantic ending to the final track, and the opening of the first track, but the album as a whole seemed a bit less than the sum of its parts. I do like the album, and I can imagine myself returning to it from time to time, but I can't see it becoming a real staple of my collection. And it hasn't made me particularly want to hear more Jazz, which is a bit of a shame in a way.

Chloe's album rating: 6
Chloe's favourite track: 2 - Track B - Duet Solo Dancers
Olly's album rating: 6
Olly's favourite track: 3 - Track C - Group Dancers

Next week it's another pretty early one that we know nothing about - Donovan - Sunshine Superman from 1966.