''Let My Children Hear Music'' is an album released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in 1972 of music by composer

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...

, produced by

Teo Macero Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero (October 30, 1925 – February 19, 2008) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years. Macero produced Miles Davis' ''Bitches Brew'', and Dave ...

. The music is scored for large

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

orchestra and Mingus worked with several arrangers, orchestrators and conductors, most notably

Sy Johnson Sivert Bertil Johnson Jr. (April 15, 1930 – July 26, 2022) was an American jazz composer, arranger and pianist who worked with Charles Mingus in the 1960s and 1970s. He also worked with the Lee Konitz Nonet, among others. His work with Mingu ...

and Alan Raph, to realize some of his most ambitious compositions. In the original liner notes, Mingus described it as "the best album I have ever made". Mingus was nominated for the 1973

Grammy Award for Best Album Notes The Grammy Award – Best Album Notes has been presented since 1964. From 1973 to 1976 (the 15th through 18th Awards), a second award was presented for Best Album Notes – Classical. Those awards are listed under those years below. The award recog ...

(Non-Classical) for the album, losing to

Tom T. Hall Thomas Hall (May 25, 1936 – August 20, 2021), known professionally as Tom T. Hall and informally nicknamed "the Storyteller," was an American country music singer-songwriter and short-story author. He wrote 12 No. 1 hit songs, with 26 more ...

for ''Tom T. Hall's Greatest Hits''.

Track listing

''All tracks composed by Charles Mingus.'' # " The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jiveass Slippers" – 9:34 # "Adagio ma Non Troppo" – 8:22 # "Don't Be Afraid, the Clown's Afraid Too" – 9:26 # "Taurus in the Arena of Life" – 4:17 (on CD reissue) # "Hobo Ho" – 10:07 # "The Chill of Death" – 7:38 # "The I of Hurricane Sue" – 10:09

Personnel

The soloists are listed below:Booklet from 1992 Columbia Legacy CD *

Lonnie Hillyer Lonnie Hillyer (March 25, 1940 in Monroe, Georgia – July 1, 1985 in New York City) was an American jazz trumpeter, strongly influenced by Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and other bebop legends of that era. Lonnie Hillyer m ...

- trumpet *

Julius Watkins Julius Watkins (October 10, 1921 – April 4, 1977) was an American jazz musician who played French horn. Described by AllMusic as "virtually the father of the jazz French horn", Watkins won the ''Down Beat'' critics poll in 1960 and 1961 for Mi ...

- French horn * Bobby Jones - tenor saxophone *

Joe Wilder Joseph Benjamin Wilder (February 22, 1922 – May 9, 2014) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Wilder was awarded the Temple University Jazz Master's Hall of Fame Award in 2006. The National Endowment for the Arts honored h ...

- trumpet * Charles McCracken - cello * Charles McPherson - alto saxophone * James Moody - tenor saxophone * Sir Roland Hanna - piano *

Snooky Young Eugene Edward "Snooky" Young (February 3, 1919 – May 11, 2011) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known for his mastery of the plunger mute, with which he was able to create a wide range of sounds. Biography Young was lead trumpeter of th ...

- lead trumpet throughout *

Dannie Richmond Charles Daniel Richmond (December 15, 1931 – March 16, 1988) was an American jazz drummer who is best known for his work with Charles Mingus. He also worked with Joe Cocker, Elton John and Mark-Almond. Biography Richmond was born Charles ...

- drums

References

Charles Mingus albums 1972 albums Albums produced by Teo Macero Columbia Records albums {{1970s-jazz-album-stub