Review of Oh Yeah

This is a very great bop'n album from the master Mingus. The opening track, Hog Callin' Blues, has a lot of punch and features hints of the classic track ii bs. There's vocal yells and it sounds like they're having an all around good time jamming away. Devil Woman slows things down with a very modal sound but later picks up with booker ervin given off some great soul blasts. This track goes up and down and hints at the blues side as well. A topper on this release for sure. Next we get right back in the fast lane with Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am, which sounds like a statment track and contains elements that reminded me of A Foggy Day. This crew is trying to tell a story with thier instruments and it's very effective here. Next is Ecclusiastics, featuring some random vocals spazzed in here and there for good measure, including Oh Yeah!. Love it. The piano from Mingus on this track, yes Mingus doesn't touch his bass on this album, is just awesome. Rival's the other greats on the piano as far as the history of jazz goes. Oh Lord Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me slows things down with a fairly humorous take. Not my favorite track on here as it has that southern baptist church flavour to it, a bit to much for my tastes. Thankfully another humorous track comes next with, Eat That Chicken. A fast paced track that I'd love to have seen played live. I can just see the band smiling, or maybe laughing, while playing this one. Soon we get a very odd experimental type track called The Passions Of A Man. Again, it's a track I think that is trying to tell a story. I think a few people might be put off by this but this kind of jazz was very new at the time and I simply love it. Kinda sums up of the era as well I think.

Overall this is not my favorite Mingus album and by far not the one that stands out in his discography but I simply love it as one of his best non-bass albums.