"The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jive Ass Slippers" is a composition by

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 ...

released on his 1972 album ''

Let My Children Hear Music ''Let My Children Hear Music'' is an album released by Columbia Records in 1972 of music by composer Charles Mingus, produced by Teo Macero. The music is scored for large jazz orchestra and Mingus worked with several arrangers, orchestrators and c ...

''. "The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife", as it is sometimes referred to, is a rearrangement of the song "Once Upon a Time, There Was a Holding Corporation Called Old America," recorded on Mingus' 1965 live album '' Music Written For Monterey 1965. Not Heard... Played In Its Entirety At UCLA''. The main

melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

of "Shoes" follows an ascending

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, ...

chord pattern, presented in multiple separate tempos.

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 Mingus ...

is credited with the orchestration, transcription and arrangement, as well conducting for the recording on ''Let My Children Hear Music''.

References

*George Kanzler, liner notes to

Columbia Jazz Masterpieces Columbia Jazz Masterpieces was a series of Jazz CD, LP and cassette reissues from Columbia Records which began in 1986. Written inside the blue box used on all the album covers "Digitally Remastered Directly from the Original Analog Tapes." In ...

CD edition of ''Let My Children Hear Music'', 1992.

1972 compositions Jazz compositions Compositions by Charles Mingus {{1970s-jazz-composition-stub