To B.S.? Or Not to B.S.?
I wanted to keep the energy up on the heels of “Paraiso” by Soil & Pimp Sessions, so I went with Charles Mingus’ “II BS”. This piece has so much drive and emotion, with horns that cry and wail, drums that restrain then escape, and with an orchestra that seems to be channeling a voice from an untouchable place. It reminds me of Louis Prima’s “Sing Sing Sing”; however, “II BS” has a much looser, bluesy oriented sound, while Prima’s song has a stiffer, more regimented structure and happy sound to it. Mingus explained his inspiration for this composition:
[It] could just as well be called Afro-American Fight Song. It has a folk spirit, the kind of folk music I’ve always heard anyway. It has some of the old church feeling too. I was raised a Methodist but there was a Holiness Church on the corner and some of the feeling of their music, which was wilder, got into our music. There’s a moaning feeling in those church modes…My solo in it is a deeply concentrated one. I can’t play it right unless I’m thinking about prejudice and hate and persecution and how unfair it is. There’s sadness and cries in it, but also determination. (“The Clown” liner notes, Atlantic 1260, 1957)
Mingus gave such power and meaning behind this composition and you can really hear all of the elements he infused in this piece. A lot of Mingus’ compositions were in a constant state of development, as he would rearrange and alter certain pieces from performance to performance. For example this song, “II B.S.” was previously known as “Haitian Fight Song”. If you are looking for an all around amazing album, the album that “II B.S.” comes from, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus, is where it’s at. Another song that follows this trend is “Theme for Lester Young”, which was originally recorded as “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” - a song dedicated to Lester Young, who died months before the recording of this album.
Jake
2 years ago