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A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry is an album by the jazz bassist, composer, and band leader Charles Mingus, released by Bethlehem Records in mid-1959.[1][2] In spite of the title, the album does not contain any poetry.[3] "Scenes in the City", however, includes narration performed by Mel Stewart and written by actor Lonne Elder with assistance from Langston Hughes.[4][6][7] The composition "Duke's Choice" re-appears, in updated form, as "I X Love" on the 1963 album Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus.[8][9][10] "Nouroog", "Duke's Choice" and "Slippers" form the basis of the suite "Open Letter to Duke" on Mingus Ah Um.[11]

A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry
Studio album by Charles Mingus
Released	May or June 1959[1][2]
Recorded	October 1957
Genre	Jazz
Length	57:29
Label	Bethlehem
Producer	Jeff Palo
Charles Mingus chronology
Weary Blues (1958) A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry (1959) Jazz Portraits: Mingus in Wonderland (1959)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Los Angeles Times	[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	[5]

The CD issues of the album include three bonus tracks: the Dizzy Gillespie standard "Woody 'n' You", Charlie Parker's "Billie's Bounce", which is listed as "Bounce" and miscredited to Mingus, and an alternate take of "Slippers".[12]

Reception

The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow called the album "an excellent set of challenging yet often accessible music".[3] The Penguin Guide to Jazz deemed it "an opportunity for Mingus to experiment with texts and with pure sound".[5] 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".[5]

Track listing

All titles by Charles Mingus, except where noted.

1. "Scenes in the City" (Music: Mingus; Narrative: Elder, Hughes) – 11:55
2. "Nouroog" – 4:52
3. "New York Sketchbook" – 8:55
4. "Duke's Choice" – 6:27
5. "Slippers" – 3:29

Bonus tracks

1. "Woody 'n' You" (Gillespie) – 8:44
   • Mistitled "Wouldn't You" on earlier releases
2. "Bounce" (Parker) – 9:22
3. "Slippers (Alternate Take)" – 3:50

Personnel

• Charles Mingus – bass
• Jimmy Knepper – trombone
• Shafi Hadi – tenor and alto saxophone
• Bill Hardman – trumpet (on "Nouroog")
• Clarence Shaw – trumpet (except on "Nouroog")
• Dannie Richmond – drums
• Horace Parlan – piano (on "Nouroog", "Duke's Choice", "Slippers"; left hand during final solo on "New York Sketchbook")
• Bob Hammer – piano (on remaining tracks)
• Mel Stewart – voice (narration on "Scenes in the City")

References

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