Charles Lioyd

From 1972 and 1973, two albums originally released on the CBS/Columbia record label.
"Let My Children Hear Music" features seven original Mingus compositions.
"Charles Mingus And Friends In Concert", originally a double LP set, features a star-studded selection of sidesmen including Gerry Mulligan, James Moody, Dizzy Gillespie and Lee Konitz amongst others.
Digitally remastered and slipcased, and with extensive new notes.

For almost 60 years, Elder Charles Beck enjoyed widespread recognition as a singer, pianist and trumpeter, as well as a preacher, church leader and civil rights activist. From 1930 until the late 1950s Beck recorded for Decca, Bluebird, Gotham, King and Chess labels. His lively services at his church in Buffalo, New York gave Beck renown even in folk music circles.

As a lifelong soul boy - poet, actor, presenter Craig Charles has been adding to his trunk of funk music since his youth, and now after almost 20 years hosting his world renowned BBC6 Music and Radio 2 shows, DJing at clubs and festivals around the globe his reputation as an ambassador for all things soulful & funky is indisputable.

This set is the finest recording by one of Charles Mingus' greatest bands, his sextet with Eric Dolphy (on alto, bass clarinet, and flute), tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan, trumpeter Johnny Coles, pianist Jaki Byard, and drummer Dannie Richmond. Taken from their somewhat tumultuous but very musical tour of Europe, most of these rather lengthy workouts actually just feature a quintet because Coles took sick (he is only heard on "So Long Eric," which here is mistitled "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat"), but the playing is at such a high level that the trumpeter is not really missed. "Orange Was the Color of Her Dress" is given definitive treatment, and the nearly 29-minute "Fables of Faubus" and Mingus' relatively brief feature on "Sophisticated Lady" are impressive, but it is the passionate "Meditations on Integration" (an utterly fascinating performance) and "Parkeriana"…

Ray Charles was the musician most responsible for developing soul music. Singers like Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson also did a great deal to pioneer the form, but Charles did even more to devise a new form of black pop by merging '50s R&B with gospel-powered vocals, adding plenty of flavor from contemporary jazz, blues, and (in the '60s) country. Then there was his singing; his style was among the most emotional and easily identifiable of any 20th century performer, up there with the likes of Elvis and Billie Holiday. He was also a superb keyboard player, arranger, and bandleader. The brilliance of his 1950s and '60s work, however, can't obscure the fact that he made few classic tracks after the mid-'60s, though he recorded often and performed until the year before his death.