"The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife Are Some
Jive Ass Slippers" is an amazing
composition by
Charles Mingus for his
big band.
The
orchestration was done by
Sy Johnson.
Mingus has a penchant for creative titles; some other
great titles are "
Slop", "
Pithecanthropus Erectus",
"
Gunslinging Bird", "
E's Flat, Ah's Flat Too",
and "
New Now Know How".
Of course the main point is that "
Shoes of the Fisherman's
Wife" is a brilliant composition, as Mingus was a
brilliant
composer.
The piece was intended to be premiered at the 1965
Newport Jazz Festival, but it wasn't.
The first recording was made in 1971
and was released on the album Let My
Children Hear Music. It was later re-released
as part of the Columbia Jazz Masterpieces series
as the title track, even though the remaining eight
songs are from recording sessions on November 1st and
13th of 1959.
Charles Mingus died in 1979, but
Mingus' work lives on, as the Mingus Big Band,
consisting of many players formerly with Mingus and
many brilliant new stars, tour and record from the
Mingus songbook under the artistic direction
of his widow, Sue Mingus. "Shoes" appears on their
live album: Mingus Big Band: Live in Time, with
solos by Seamus Blake on tenor saxophone and
Kenny Drew Jr. on piano.
Here is the personnel for the original September 23rd, 1971
recording
- Trumpet: Snookie Young, Jimmy Nottingham
- Trombone: Eddie Bert, Urbie Green
- French horn: Julius Watkins
- Reeds: Danny Banks, Jerry Dodgion,
Charles MacPherson, Bobby Jones
- Piano: Roland Hanna, John Foster
- Bass: Charlie Mingus
- Arco bass: Richard Davis, Homer Mensch, Ron Carter,
Milt Hinton
- Drums: Dannie Richmond
Sources: Liner notes of Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife,
Columbia Jazz Masterpieces, and www.mingusmingusmingus.com